DEAR Nemesis
by mandymld
Summary: Franco is back but before he can play his games, two of his pawns go missing. When the players are found and placed is their spots, what happens after he loses and how does the town of Port Charles recover from the dirt he exposed?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**Dear Mrs. Hardy:**

**Attached is something I think you should see. **

**Nemesis**

Audrey was sitting on her front porch, stunned. Looking through the photos the elderly woman went back inside then put the DVD into her player then closed her eyes not wanting to admit what she was seeing.

Entering the house, she pulled out the old photo albums and thought long and hard. Two hours later, she still had no answers but the questions were starting to pile up. Feeling her age, the elderly woman walked upstairs to her bedroom and pulled out her memory box and then looked at the note she had received.

Driving to Shadybrook, she checked in on her granddaughter then went to make a call. Arriving at GH, she went to see Steven and saw him discussing his sister with Nik Cassadine and wasn't happy with what she was hearing.

Oh Steven, right idea, wrong man she thought to herself. An hour later, her mind made up she went to the shelter where she volunteered and unhappy with herself at the irony, she picked up one of the prepaid phones for victims of abuse who had no one to turn to.

Going to the park, she walked around, then read the letter again before she placed yet another call after getting the number from information and asked the man on the other end. "You once said you would do anything to make up for what you did wrong with Elizabeth, did you mean it?"

After making plans with the most devious person she knew, she said "Do we have an agreement?"

The attorney on the other end thought about his past while picking up his newborn son, then looking at the woman standing in the doorway said "Certainly Mrs. Hardy, the house in Martha's Vineyard is empty and I will arrange everything like you requested."

Returning home, Audrey had to restrain her primary instincts which were to to pack up what the boys needed, knowing that she couldn't take even the most innocuous of items. Calling her contact she gave him the list which he gave to his wife then told the elderly woman everything would be taken care off.

His wife took his late father's secret credit cards and went shopping. An hour later they were on a charter jet that was logged to land in New York. His wife had been told all of his past, everything the good, the bad and the obsessive. She had had a taste of it when he had first met her, now she was his talisman, the reason he had finally been able to walk away.

Thinking on it, he made a few calls, then called the elderly lady back and said "It is all set, are you sure this won't scare the boys?"

When Jake entered the room followed by his big brother, all she could think of was what was she going to do. What should she do? Should she follow her instincts and call Mac Scorpio or should she take a chance to make a difference as she looked at was now a careworn letter in spite of arriving at Nine AM that morning.

Turning on the six o'clock news and seeing the Corinthos trial, followed by the story about Ethan Lovett being arrested for hit and run then about how two drug dealers had been shot down by the docks and Audrey made her decision.

"Hey boys, why don't we go on a trip to surprise your Mommy, would you like that?" she asked before loading Jake and Cam in the car with nothing more than their usual accoutrements for a trip some place.

With a quick call, she left Lucky a message telling him she was taking the boys to get ice cream and they would have to reschedule his visit. Not that he showed up half the time, but she wanted cover.

Then holding her breath when the phone was picked up at the second number she had called she asked "I am taking the boys out for ice cream, would you like me to pick you up a pint?"

When the man on the other end said regretfully he had to pass he was going to be at the hospital all night, Audrey silently thanked her husband who had to be looking out for her that evening.

An hour later, Audrey's car was still at the ice cream shop as they closed. "Alex, remind me tomorrow if that car is still here to have it towed." said the owner to the clerk.

Meanwhile the doctors at Shadybrook were leaving for the night. The woman who had made the deal with Helena shook slightly as she signed the papers the elderly woman wanted before leaving herself.

Helena opened up the door to Elizabeth's room with a smile on her face only to scream in rage as her pigeon wasn't there. Making a call she announced. "The pigeon has fled the coop. I want you to find her, NOW!"

Audrey was hoping she hadn't just sold her soul as well as her granddaughter's to the devil as she got off the private jet and asked the attorney standing there. "Any problems?"

"None, if anyone goes looking they will find that Helena commandeered the Cassadine jet, with Elizabeth and you all missing, she is going to be the prime suspect. We both know that a certain person won't look too much further at least not at first. Let's get you settled then I need to head back to Los Angeles."

Following him, she said "The boys?"

"They were carried to the boat, Elizabeth is on it along the with doctor you requested. Are you sure you can trust her?"

"She has been one of my best friends for years, so yes. Thank you, I know that when they eventually get past Helena your name might come up, thank you for standing up to protect her." she said before Ric handed her onto the boat.

Watching it sail away, he turned to his wife who had joined him and said "Marianna, did you take care of it?"

"The boat doesn't exist. Not any longer." as she watched her husband's ex-wife, along with her kids and grams float away. "You do know that they will eventually show up on the Island looking for her, are you sure you will be safe?"

"Yes, Morgan isn't going to look, he is doing the same self screwed up things he did before after they broke up, this time however... however, this time he went too far and I almost feel sorry for the fool. She won't take him back after this one. Let's go home."

Kissing him, Marianna thought about the woman she had met all those months ago in Port Charles and wished her well.

Ric made the call, some small part of him taking satisfaction in knowing that at some point someone was going to come looking. Too bad he was not going to have any answers, he would have taken great pleasure in seeing Jason Morgan's face when he found out his son was lost to him forever.

The next morning, Steven passed out on the sofa as soon as he walked into his grandmother's house, he wanted to hear the boys when they came down so he could spend the day with them.

Meanwhile at the ice cream shop, the owner was glad the sedan was gone, they only had ten parking spaces and it was supposed to be a nice and sunshiney day.

Lucky had gone to work, after a quick visit with Jason. He was in a good mood after Jason had told him that Elizabeth had always loved him. The man was a moron, but he was good for Lucky's ego. Walking into the station, he did his usual work, talked to Ethan promising to help clear his brother of the charges against him.

At the end of his shift, he drove over to the Hardy house after getting the message from Audrey to do his daily duty to the boys. He was whistling as he walked onto the porch, then looking to the side, grimaced when he saw her car was missing and only Steven was here.

Leaving, he was a bit pissed, Steven was strictly on his brother's side and he wished the man would leave things alone. If he did, soon his Elizabeth, the girl he had come to love that night in the park would be back and he would have all he had ever wanted. Her complete total devotion to just him, just like his mother had loved his father. Forever, endlessly, she had proven that by not being able to live with out him.

It's why his mother was in Paris, she would never get well without his father, because there was no Laura without Luke nor no Liz without Lucky.

When Steven woke up, he realized he had to have been more tired than he thought if he didn't hear the boys wake up. Going outside, he checked the mail then returned a bit drowsy. Seeing his letter in the kitchen next to the coffee pot, he grinned. Right on time, he thought to himself before going to shower.

Calling his grandmother, he frowned a bit when he realized her phone was off just as the house phone rang. Answering it, he asked "Could you please repeat that?"

"This is Officer Elmers of the Hay's Landing police department, we are looking for an Audrey Hardy."

"That is my grandmother, she isn't here right now, may I help you?" Steven's face turned white as he asked the man to repeat what he had just said.

"Sir, we have your grandmother's Lincoln Continental, I am afraid that it was totaled last night. We have the two boys who stole it but I was a bit surprised when it didn't pop up on the stolen vehicles report."

Steven mechanically announced that he would find out what was going on then called Lucky only to get his voice mail. Calling the station, he asked to speak to Mac Scorpio and had the call forwarded to the Commissioner who was having dinner with Alexis and her two girls.

"I am sorry, Steven, I know nothing about Audrey's car getting stolen, have you asked your grandmother?"

"No, and I can't find her either." he said before voicing his fears. "Mac the Hays Landing police said the car was stolen from the ice cream shop last night, and I can't find my grandmother or the boys."

Thinking on the rumors he had heard, Mac let Alexis know he had to leave then went to Shadybrook just in time to see Nik throwing a tantrum when they refused to let him in to see Elizabeth. Lainey Winters was assuring the man it was at Elizabeth's request.

"I need to see her, Dr. Winters." said Mac who saw the doctor stiffen then seem to scramble mentally before saying "As her doctor, I have to say that it isn't a good idea for you to be talking to her now, Commissioner."

"It is only to see her, face-to-face, no talking involved." he said getting a bad feeling when she still tried to insist on keeping him away. "Dr. Winters, now?"

Lainey was shaking and almost passed out before sitting down and admitting. "She isn't here."

"What?" he asked.

"She asked to be released on her own, since she committed herself, there was nothing I could do to stop her." she said weakly only for Mac to request the video footage. When they tried to stop him, he made a call and got a subpoena.

Lainey found herself handcuffed when Mac saw the tapes. First of her meeting with Helena then the sight of two men carrying Elizabeth out the back door. "Dr. Winters, I hope you have a very good attorney."

Mac had the two uniformed officers who arrived mirandize the doctor before taking the tapes with himself so they didn't disappear. Nik made a call then watched as Mac drove away.

As the man drove towards town, he saw a sight on the side of the road that stunned him causing him to drive into the guard rail and over the cliff road. An hour later, Lucky walked into the station and talked to Lainey before getting the officers to let her go when Mac still hadn't arrived by midnight.

Jason drank some more than finally fell asleep next to Sam, grateful she had stood by him after all that had been happening. She might not be his dream, but at least she was willing to be there, to accept that he wasn't going to change.

His dreams woke him up and finding the woman he was sleeping with gone, he took a shower, then went for a drive. As he explored his new paths, he ached for his old but knew he had put away any chance for that life almost a year ago in Mexico.

Seeing the town of Hayes Landing, he was surprised to see Nik Cassadine with Luke Spencer but then dismissed it before racing home for another bottle of pain reliever.

Luke and Lucky were sure that Nik was involved with Helena grabbing Elizabeth but they knew they had to cover this up, otherwise they had no chance of rescuing the woman and her sons.

Luke because he was hoping that this would finally end his son's obsession with playing daddy to other people's spawn. Lucky because he was glad to have the chance to rescue Elizabeth, to take them back to where they should have been. Nik however was just covering up his own involvement, not in the kidnapping but in the altered tests that proved Lucky was the father of her child.

Meanwhile Mac was rushed to GH with a head wound. When he woke up, he had no memory of what had gone on that week. Arriving at his office, he saw the two officers waiting for him then when they asked about Lainey, he said "I have no idea. I know I was interested in what she knew about Michael Corinthos, that must have been what it is about."

Steven was in his office, worried sick, Helena had his little sister and his only hope was her grandson stepping up to take her down like he had promised. When Lucky had visited, it took all Steven had in him not to punch the self righteous bastard when he said that Elizabeth had brought this onto her self by sleeping with his brother.

CHAPTER 2:

Dear Sir

Attached is a video you need to see.

Nemesis.

In Port Charles, Mac Scorpio was looking at files, then seeing Dr. Winters entering asked "Why was I at Shadybrook?"

"I was treating a patient, you came looking for me." she said then went to leave.

Mac got the feeling something was off, but his daughter rushed in and said "Dad, Spinelli and I are going on a trip together."

Shaking his head, he watched her go, not understanding the appeal of a man who drooled over a woman like Sam McCall to his daughter.

Luke and Lucky were making calls when Ethan showed up at the Haunted Star, when they clammed up, he just said "I have bigger problems but if you need my help, let me know."

"How is Elizabeth?" he asked then winced as Lucky went on a ten minute tirade. Leaving quickly, the Aussie just rolled his eyes when Lulu came on board and said "How are you doing?"

"Fine, the mob wants to kill me for something I didn't do and our brother is an idiot who has completely forgotten his own past. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do."

Meeting up with Johnny he asked the man why he was so pissed. "Trevor had some credit cards set up that were active lately. They lead back to Corinthos. I shut them down but he is going to pay. How do you feel about taking down a shipment?"

With an easy grin, the Aussie said "When and where?"

Tom Hardy got off the phone with Steven and asked his wife her opinion. "He is lying about something, but what?"

"I don't know, but I am going to keep trying my mother. There is no way she would go on vacation with Elizabeth and the boys if Elizabeth was really this sick."

Spinelli was grinning as he closed his laptop, turning to see the Goddess entering along with Stone Cold. Things were back to the way they should have been all along. After taking his bag, he asked. "Are you sure you don't need me?"

"No, go enjoy your cruise." said Sam with a grin as she thought about seven days of being Spinelli free around the penthouse.

Sonny entered just as the geek left. "Jason, you need to to go Chili, our shipment was just lifted."

Sam wasn't thrilled but at least they could get away together. That smile went away when Sonny added. "The Bodelli's will be expecting you."

"Great, I will go and pack our bags." said Sam only for Jason to frown and say "Sam you have to stay here and help your sister."

"She is going to be fine, we talked about it." she said only to see both Jason and Sonny frowning and snapped "What? Why can't I go?"

"They don't allow women on their hacienda, you can't go." he said gently then to help soften the blow added. "When I come back we can get away for a few days."

An hour later, Jason was on the jet, wishing he wasn't leaving. He was in the middle of investigating what had happened to Kristina and he couldn't help thinking Sam's past was getting in the way of what her sister needed.

Sonny took the call then went to see Sam as his hands started shaking. "Er, Sam, we have a problem."

"What, is it; Jason?"

"No, I mean yes. I just talked to Chili, they never sent their man to request a meeting. The jet went off radar ten minutes after it took off and I have no idea what is going on."

Sam froze, Spinelli, she needed Spinelli. Looking around, she couldn't find the paper he had written down the number for the spa or even it's name. Calling Kate Howard, the PI huffed and puffed after the woman hung up on her.

Trying Lulu who had been in the middle of a make out session with Dante cursed when Sam insisted on getting the name immediately in exchange for trying to get her mother to drop the charges against Ethan.

Arriving at Crimson, Lulu took the paper and went to find Sam. Handing it to her, she said "Here and you better do as I asked."

Arriving at Dante's, she was pissed to see a brunette talking to him. "Who are you?"

Turning Brooklynn couldn't resist, "If it isn't my step aunt who slept with my uncle, so Lulu, what was it like sleeping with your stepbrother who was married to you so called friend?"

Lulu looked at Dante who seemed confused and she quickly offered an explanation that just dug her hole even deeper. "I think we should call it a night."

"But Dante... she can't stay here if I leave."

"Why not?" asked Brooklynn, "He invited me over to talk, I am going to crash in the guest room."

"Over my dead body, why don't you go to the mansion?" she snapped only for Brooklynn to pause as if thinking.

"No, I don't think so, at least until it has been fumigated. Too many bottom feeders have been hanging around my family lately." she said with a grin. "Speaking of bottom feeders, how is your dad?"

The man from Albany drove to the State Police barracks and said "I have to talk to a Trooper Daniels, I am here to meet the Attorney General."

An hour later, at almost eleven pm, Lucky Spencer answered a knock on the door and said "YES?"

"Lucky Spencer?"

Looking at the trooper, he said "One minute." Then went to get his badge only for the man to call out to the men with him. "Gun! Gun! Gun! Down on the floor, Spencer."

"Hey, I am a cop, look, here!" he said reaching for his badge only to be shot in the arm that was reaching for his credentials.

When he was handcuffed and being transported to the hospital, he was pissed to see it was County not GH. Protesting, he was told to shut up. "What are you arresting me for?"

"Domestic battery among other charges." snapped the man while Lucky was whining about wanting to call his boss and his attorney. Reaching Alexis, he was pissed when she hung up on him after suggesting he try Diane, saying she wouldn't represent anyone related to Ethan.

Reaching Mac, the man promised to come as quickly as possible. When he arrived with Claire, he listened to the trooper then went to the State Police Barracks. There he was told that Detective Spencer had been using his badge to cover up abusing his ex-wife for years.

Looking at the first tape where a pregnant Elizabeth was shoved in Kelly's, then the report about the incident with his misfire, Mac said "This is being taken out of context."

"And this, is this out of context?" Mac watched as first Lucky then Lulu Spencer berated Elizabeth Webber while people stood around and watched. Shaking his head when he saw Robin and Patrick on the one tape, he was even sicker when he saw the last tape where Lucky was saying how he missed the rape victim Liz Webber had been as a kid.

"I agree that is bad, but you have nothing to charge him with if his ex-wife doesn't press charges." said Claire as she worried about her case against Sonny Corinthos going away.

Only to be shown Maxie stealing drugs from GH and then handing them off to Lucky, what appeared to be an incident where Jason Morgan saved Spencer's wife and finally the one that broke the straw, Spencer making a deal for drugs, dated a month before.

Mac swore then said "I don't know how he is doing it, but I require him to be drug tested every week."

"I don't care the how, all I know is we have him on a whole slew of charges, as well as quite a few accusations we can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt. However there is enough circumstantial evidence to convict him on all of this as well as conspiracy." replied the AG as he entered the room. "To combat the usual shenanigans that usually go on in cases in your town, we are filing felony charges and I am taking charge of the case personally."

Mac knew this was bad for his department when he left the Barracks, as other officers had been named including two of Spencer's former partners. Arriving at work, he saw a familiar face and asked "What are you doing here?"

"I was brought in to help with the investigation of Spencer, since I knew the town and the family." said Frisco. "Frankly, I can't imagine what you were thinking letting Lucky Spencer be a cop. By the way, they are pressing charges against Maxie, so perhaps we should sit down and have a talk about what she has been up to lately since they have her on tape talking about someone named Jacob Spencer getting kidnapped with a slutty looking brunette. They were laughing and the brunette was talking about how she had almost let the kid die until she realized rescuing him was a way of winning back Morgan, so what skank is he seeing now?"

Elizabeth woke up to hear her little boys playing, moving to the window, she saw her grams and Gail Baldwin outside. Walking to the door, she asked "Where are we?"

"Someplace safe, Elizabeth. Someplace where we can get you some help without everyone interfering and trying to make you do what they want. When you leave here, you get to make the choice." said Audrey who saw her granddaughter close down.

Gail looked up and said "We are only here to help you. I am here to talk, to listen and to give you the safety you need to make healthy choices for your sons and the baby you are carrying."

Touching her stomach, Elizabeth felt her stomach roll as she thought about the mistakes she had been making over the past year and how the father was the second to last man she wanted. Walking to the water's edge, she said "I have to let everyone know I am okay."

"Elizabeth, there are no phones here, no way to get messages out." she said knowing the petite nurses first instincts were going to be to call Lucky.

"I have to let them know I am okay, you don't understand, I HAVE TO!" she said then went to where her boys are, the only reason she was living, the only reason she kept moving was for her boys and so that someday... someday, Lucky would forgive her for her mistakes.

Jason woke up tied to a bed. Seeing the other prisoner, he asked "Where am I?"

"Hell if I know." said the man grimacing in pain. "I was on a flight to visit Easter Island when I woke up tied here."

"Do you know how long I have been here?" he asked as a headache started.

"A couple of days, you have pretty much been out of it. You kept worrying about letting your lady friend know where you are. Insisted on it, actually to the point they beat you pretty good." he said wincing as he felt the blood in his own mouth.

"Do you know who they are?"

"No, all I do know is that they were rather eager for you to wake up." said the man in rags who asked "What date was it when you left wherever you were?"

Jason thought about it, then said "I don't know. I can't remember."

The guards came in and dragged him out, when Jason was dumped back onto his bed he had fresh bruises and contusions, and was holding his head. He screamed in pain when they forced his hands up to the headboard and tied him back to the bed. The pain in his head was worse than it had been in a long time. He needed to contact doc even if he didn't remember who doc was, Jason knew he needed his help.

Sam was worried, it had been a few days, at least she was getting somewhere with the charges against Ethan she thought with a vicious grin only for Mac to show up and asked to speak to Alexis who looked at the video he showed her and start to cry.

"What did you say to my mother?"

"That we have proof she ran down your sister's boyfriend and that this Keifer was the one responsible for the beating Kristina took." Walking out the door, he made a call then said to her. "Cheer up, at least one Spencer is going to jail for assault. Lucky is facing felony charges relating to abusing Elizabeth Webber, and then his badge to cover it up."

"You can't arrest him, I mean, you know what Elizabeth was doing, she was cheating on him." she protested. "She whored herself out to his brother, how could she do that to him and not expect him to be angry."

Looking at her he said "Doesn't that make you a bit of a hypocrite, weren't you just this morning on the news crucifying an innocent man saying that anyone who beats a woman deserves to be strung up. What happened to there being no excuse for hurting a woman."

Alexis had come to the door, feeling drained after what Mac had shown her. He had given her twenty four hours to turn herself in and she was grateful for it. "Sam, Mac is right, no woman deserves to be abused."

"But Eliz-"

Snapping as her emotions overwhelmed her. "Sam, enough, get over it. Elizabeth Webber had more than enough reason to cheat on Lucky and he wasn't a victim, hell he cheated on her with you, with Maxie even with her own sister. Now as someone who slept with my husband, maybe you shouldn't be using words like whore to describe her. Go home Sam, just go home."

Turning to Mac, Alexis said "I have to make a few calls, but I will be at the station in the morning."

Leaving, Mac turned and said "You know, if you had come to me with this when it happened, you wouldn't be facing charges."

Gail and Audrey were stunned at the damage Elizabeth had brought upon herself at not being able to call Lucky. She had broken her own wrist in a dangerous attempt to get away. "Gail, what is going on?

The pale doctor sat down and said "Either the damage is worse than I thought or Elizabeth has had help in causing her to react this way. How involved is Helena in this? Could she have messed with her mind or drugged her?"

"No, at least not the drugs, especially with the baby." said a worried Audrey as Gail took the vials and handed them to the man waiting. "I want this run discreetly, off line at your lab."

"What am I looking for?" asked the grim man as he took them.

"Everything and anything." said the doctor as she checked on her sedated patient. Seeing the white bandage, she went to see Audrey and said "We need some help."

"But who can we trust?" she asked still worried about the danger.

"I have someone in mind, what about Annie?"

"Have someone, not anyone connected to us contact her about being a private duty nurse for a reclusive patient, then I will risk contacting someone to bring her here."

Jason woke up, screaming as his head felt like it was on fire. Trying to free himself, he dislocated his shoulder as he fought against the ropes keeping him tied to the bed. Feeling the slickness of his blood as he bled from his struggles, Jason grinned, knowing that it would help free him from his ropes.

The man outside, looked in before impassively turning to the guard. "Give him another day of going through whatever, then call in doc and find out what is going on in his head."

Leaving he went to make a call, then getting connect said "I have an offer. Jason Morgan alive or dead to anyone for the right price. The auction will begin in seven days."

Chapter 3

Dear Dr. Quartermaine,

Attached is a video you need to see.

Nemesis

Monica watched the screen, in pain and shock then getting up removed it from the living room. She knew better than to leave something this explosive around. Going to Audrey Hardy's house, she was a bit surprised she wasn't there and that Steven was saying she was visiting Gail.

Gail had called her two days prior to inform her she was taking on a private patient and would be out of reach for a while. Looking at Steven, she knew something was up, the problem with honest people was when they lied, the strain of it was a heavy burden.

Deciding she needed to talk to her son, she drove to his building and was not happy to see Sam McCall answering the door. "Where is Jason?"

"He is away, for work." she added then opened the door just as her phone rang. "Jason? Oh, find him. I need his help with something."

When she saw Monica in the doorway, she snapped "He isn't here, you can leave now."

"You might want to lose that tone, or I will take great pleasure in showing you why I was a bigger bitch than you... well that isn't true, you are a bigger bitch, I am just richer and have more class."

Shocked Sam said "You might want to remember your little bender and running me over and think twice about how you treat me."

"I don't think so, in fact I have to wonder... did you do that hoping to get back in Jason's good graces. Yes, I am sure you did. Well, start packing your garbage bags, honey. When I talk to my son, you are done, gone and hopefully buried someplace without a stone."

Monica walked out steaming, she couldn't wait to tell Jason what that bitch had did to his son. How she was behind his kidnapping and had hired two men to terrorize Elizabeth and her sons in the park. The doctor was getting a better idea of why Elizabeth had ended up where she was. That tart and the blond shrieker were going down. When Jason found out the truth, Monica hoped to be there when he made her pay for she had done to his son and the woman he cared about.

Mac had kept Spencer's arrest quiet, but today he was being arraigned and it would soon mean a visit from Sonny Corinthos attorney. Claire was well aware that all the evidence that Lucky had gathered was now tainted. Walking to his office, he growled when he saw Diane was already there. "I think you know why I am here. Why is it that I had to hear about Lucky Spencer from a reporter?

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 4

Dear Claire,

Good luck with your trial, I am sending you a gift to use as you see fit.

Nemesis

The ADA looked at the video and laughed. She had had to dismiss the charges against Sonny Corinthos thanks to Detective Spencer being a part of the case involving key evidence, but this was going to make up for it.

Calling Mac Scorpio, she showed him what she had and saw his slow grin. "Where did this come from?"

"An anonymous source." she replied then asked him to personally arrest the suspect. "But could you wait until morning, I have a meeting with the State's Attorney General. Spencer screwed the case and I am just vindictive enough to want to make sure that at least one criminal goes to jail for their crimes."

"I have been trying to locate Elizabeth Webber, no luck but with her recent stay at Shadybrook she might not be a viable witness, you should talk to her doctor."

"I would, but she rubs me the wrong way. I have read her report involving the Spencer boys' kidnapping and frankly I find her to be more than a little incompetent." Claire left and went home to change.

Seeing Lisa there, she sighed then recommended her friend get out and spend some time with a man other than Patrick Drake. "He is married, you need to get over this."

"He will come running, he always has." she said with a smug grin. "The little wifey is a shrew and let's face it, she can't do sexy at all."

"I have to go, but Lisa, if you keep this up, do me a favor, find a different place to live, your love life is not going to be allowed to interfere with my job." she warned before changing to leave.

Claire read the file, then handed Mitch Williams her file on Lucky, his father and his sister. There is something else, here."

Mitch pulled his computer keyboard over and hit play. Smirking he said "Well, well. What do we have here?"

"I am bringing him in, but I don't trust certain elements of my own department. Scorpio is clean, the way he went to Alexis Davis proves that, but some of his officers are suspect."

"I have someone who can investigate and when I say this man had a vested interest, trust me that it is in cleaning up Port Charles." he said then got up to go. "After this is over, you should consider a job in Albany, we are always looking for talents young attorneys like yourself."

Lucky sat in the jail cell, listening to his attorney explain his options. "But she was cheating on my, I was angry, that's all."

"Spencer, if you plead guilty to those charges they will dismiss the the felony, this way you might get out of jail before you are fifty."

"I am innocent, prove it." he growled then asked "What about my father, where is he?"

"Looking for your ex-wife, finding her might be the best way to prove your innocence and your assertion that these images are out of context." he replied before leaving.

Sam entered the room and said "I am so sorry, Lucky. How did this happen?"

"It is a simple mistake, my attorney said the AG is offering a deal so that means he has a weak case and I should be free soon. And as soon as my father finds Elizabeth, she will get me out."

"Finds Elizabeth?" she asked with a sick feeling in her stomach. "She is missing?"

"Yes, Helena grabbed her, they tracked down the jet she was on to New York then she went missing. Most likely Helena put her on a boat." he said. "My father will find her and bring her back along with the boys unfortunately."

Sam got up, thinking about the coincidence of Jason missing at the same time as Elizabeth and she knew what she had to do. Leaving quickly, she went to Sonny's house and found him talking to Diane.

"You all have it wrong, I think Jason was grabbed by Helena Cassadine." she said dramatically. "She took Elizabeth, and I think Jason."

Calming down the brunette, Sonny sent her home and sighed before saying. "More likely, Jason was on his way to Chili and he saw something. When is he going to learn that the Webber girl is bad news?"

Diane just stayed neutral, she didn't agree with her boss but she knew pointing out facts would only inflame the situation. "So what should we do about this warning from the Bodellis in regards to Jason's absence."

"Don't worry about it, I will talk to them." he said then went to make the call.

Sam was entering Jason's penthouse when she realized something was different. Looking around, she didn't know what it was but something felt different. Heading up the stairs, she checked Spinelli's room to see if he had returned yet.

Not finding anything, she went to take a shower and was a bit annoyed to find the maid had once again moved her shampoo and stuff. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a towel and went to locate her stuff. Not finding it in the guest bathroom she swore to talk Jason into firing her, she was sick of this woman tossing her stuff out like it was trash.

Checking Spinelli's bathroom, she used Maxie's spare stuff then went to get dressed. Not finding her clothes where they should be, she went to check the spare room, nothing. With nothing more than a towel, she checked the entire penthouse then called Sonny's to bitch about the maid.

"Sam, she wasn't there today." said Sonny after talking to the woman. "What is going on? Do I need to send a sweeper team to check things out?"

"ER, no, I will take care of it." she said before going back upstairs and not finding anything of Maxie's she could wear. Putting on her old clothes, she heard the doorbell ringing and went to answer it.

"Hello, would you be Sam McCall?"

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked the familiar looking man.

"I need to ask you a few questions, in regards to my daughter." Seeing her face, he said "Maxie Jones, I am her biological father, Frisco and have been trying to locate my daughter for a couple of days. She wasn't at this spa and the cruise ship taking her and that young man there, have no record of them."

Sam was sure that something was going on now. Deciding to use her detective skills, she got rid of the man and went to make a few visits. Max and Milo both claimed to have heard nothing and neither had Robin heard from Maxie.

Arriving at Carly's house, she knocked on the door and when Michael answered asked if he had heard from his uncle or had seen Spinelli or Maxie.

"No, I wasn't expecting too either, seeing as I just got back from the Island fifteen minutes ago." he said mocking the woman. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to meet someone at the hotel."

The hotel, of course, she should go ask Carly, she would know where they were if not, Kate Howard might be convinced to talk now that Maxie was missing.

Carly wasn't available so Sam went to see Kate Howard who looked at her then suggested she head out the door. "I will take care my employee."

"What is up with the attitude, what did I ever do to you?" she asked amazed at the cold reception.

"I had a long talk to Monica Quartermaine today, she gave me a clearer view of you, and frankly, it only confirmed my low opinion. Now, leave my office, don't come back and you should know, the only reason I am not going public with what I know is for the sake of your mother. When she finds out, my guess is she disowns you. My guess is you go away, quietly."

Sam huffed and puffed her way to the door where Olivia was entering. "What was that about?"

"Remember how you were talking about how Morgan was an idiot, well you aren't going to believe this one." Kate proceeded to tell her all about how Sam McCall had watched the young Spencer boy get kidnapped, then had hired men to threaten Elizabeth Webber and her boys in the park.

"Does Morgan know?" She asked, as someone who had kept a secret regarding her sons father, she was almost certain that Morgan was the father of the kid in question.

"According to his mother, no. She said the hooker would be dead. That he doesn't take lightly someone endangering kids and that Elizabeth and he were close."

"They were having an affair at one point." said Olivia, "But then from the rumors I have heard, she is a bit of slut."

"Oh, on that point. Carly Jacks is a liar. She loathes Elizabeth for something that happened years ago, I heard all about it. Speaking of sluts, did your new friend tell you she slept with her step-daddy and tried to pass her eldest off first as his then as Morgan's."

"The second, she did mention that, something about the brother being a drunk." said Olivia a bit bored that they were going over old news.

"Did she happen to mention that Morgan was engaged to another woman and screwing her without knowing her name. That she had sex with Sonny and Jacks on the same night. She is one to talk. Elizabeth Webber, if I was married to Spencer, I would cheat too, that one is weasel."

"He is cop, a great guy." she protested only to be handed the newspaper. Reading it, she swore and said "What the heck?"

"There is more. I got the whole story from Frisco Jones when he was here looking for his daughter. Let's just say, look at the situation from the Webber girl's prospective. She knows the truth about McCall, knows Jason is back with the woman who hurt her kids, Spencer is an ass who was pressuring her to remarry him and she was in over her head. That Cassadine guy would look good compared to those two losers."

Seeing Kate's scorn, Olivia walked away thinking on her own mistakes after finding she was pregnant with Sonny's kid and found herself deep in thought when she saw Jax. "What is your opinion on the mess with the Webber girl?"

Jax tensed and said "I know you are friends with Carly, but don't believe everything she says, she has problems with Elizabeth because she is the only person Jason has ever put in front of her and Carly doesn't like it. As for the current mess, I do understand it, Elizabeth lives to please people, and frankly the Spencers and their relatives have taken advantage of her for years."

Jason woke up, his head hurt and he was no longer tied up in a bed. "Well, well, Mr. Morgan, how are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" he asked hoarsely, "Do you have a phone, I have to let someone know I am okay. What happened to the people who were holding me?"

"You are laboring under a misunderstanding, you are still being held, we are just getting you well. Then we are arranging your transfer. Amazingly, we were offered five million dollars if when they came for you, you were healthy. So relax, but don't make the mistake of thinking you can escape. Get up, take a look out the windows, there is nothing around for miles and miles."

Jason gingerly rose and walked to the window and saw the bleak landscape all around him. Just watching the drifting sand he felt the need to drink something. "Why and how grabbed me?"

"You, my dear man, don't need to know that." he said leaving the room. "By the way, there is no phone, no way of contacting anyone so do everyone a favor and just get well, you will be out of here soon enough."

Elizabeth was fighting the need to sleep, she had to get in touch with Lucky, she had to apologize for letting them take her and the boys away from him. Trying to move, she wiggled until she was standing in the straight jacket they were forcing her to wear. Jumping to the door, she started banging on it with her head, harder and harder until she knocked herself out in spite of the fact it was padded.

Gail saw Audrey watching Elizabeth while wiping the tears that were running down her face. "What happened to my little girl?

"A lot, you had better come to the office and sit down. You are not going to want to be standing when you hear this one." she said grimly. Audrey swayed but followed her friend. Passing the room where the boys were sleeping, she took a glass of whiskey, sure she was going to need it.

"Gail, tell me, what is going on with Elizabeth."

"She has been being drugged. Some seriously heavy narcotics. I doubt it was Helena, but it might have been. When she was in Shadybrook, it looks like she was going through withdrawal. Then the pills were returned to her bloodstream."

"Who would do this?" she asked "Lucky? Or that horrid McCall woman, did she do this to try and take Jake away? Are you sure it wasn't Helena?"

"No, I am positive about nothing when it comes to how she was drugged. I did find something out that shocked me though. Elizabeth isn't pregnant."

Audrey dropped her glass then said "What, how is that...?"

"I don't know, but the tests proved it conclusively. Cassadine had to know, he had to." she added. "Which makes this whole thing stink to high heaven."

"Oh my sweet little girl, who did this to you?" she murmured then hearing the sound of the helicopter when to greet Annie. "Thank you for coming."

"Who is this patient that requires all this secrecy?" asked the no nonsense nurse.

"Jeff's youngest, come in and let Gail Baldwin explain." she said then went to check on her great grandsons, worried about how this was going to end.

Steven was getting scared, Lucky was in jail, Nik didn't seem to be looking that hard for the mother of his child and Luke Spencer seemed his only hope and that man had his hands full. His eldest was in jail, his daughter was creating public disturbances all over town and had been dumped by her boyfriend and his youngest was just now freed of all charges regarding Keifer Bauer's death and Kristina Corinthos beating.

Making a call, he asked his old contacts to see what they could find out in regards to Helena only to be told the old lady was a coma patient in Mass General after an aneurysm broke open in her head.

Now scared, he thought about it then went to make a visit. Seeing the huge house, he grimaced when the guard announced him to Edward Quartermaine. "I need your help."

"What does the hospital need?"

"This isn't about GH and I thought about this long and hard before coming here so you had better not try to twist this in some way. Here it is, Elizabeth is missing, the Spencers refuse to believe its not Helena, however she is in the hospital since the night my sister was kidnapped."

"Why are you coming to me, shouldn't you go to Mac Scorpio." he said sitting down. "I mean I like Elizabeth, she is a wonderful young woman, who is a bit confused right now however, Luke does know the Cassadines best. Or my grandson, Jason and she are friends."

"Because it isn't just Elizabeth missing." he stated. "Her boys are missing and I know something you need to. Jake is your great grandson. Morgan paid Elizabeth to leave, told her he didn't want to endanger them, then took up with the whore who hired men to threaten Jake."

Seeing the old man's face turn red as he protested that there was no way Jason would do that, he relied quietly. "He did, he knew that Sam had watched Jake get kidnapped and did nothing in fact she came to see my sister and told her that Jake was dead and that it now made them equals, then hired two men."

"Jason wouldn't be with her if he knew." Edward protested, "You don't know my grandson. He would never walk away from his child and he would never take up with anyone who would hurt a kid. You must have your facts wrong."

Steven took out the letter. "This is part of Elizabeth's will. Here."

Edward read it, weeping as he read what the nurse had written. His grandson was now dead to him. His hands shaking, he asked "What do you need?"

"A way to reach either Anna Devane or Robert Scorpio without anyone knowing. I don't trust Robin to keep it quiet and I won't let my sister die because everyone is looking in the wrong direction. My grandmother is gone too."

"Audrey?" asked Edward his head coming up. "I will get what you need, you do your best to find something, anything they can use to get her back."

"I will." he said then went to GH only to see Lainey Winters talking to Nik. Getting an earful about Granny Cassadine, he vowed to make sure that this man was never allowed near his child, so much for thinking he was good for his sister.

An hour later, he made a call and Tom was on his way. Another call had Kevin Collins traveling to town, but Gail Baldwin was unreachable. A bit uneasy, he went through the files then called Edward who gave him the name Rae Cummings.

Sam walked around the parking lot trying to figure out where her car was. Not finding it, she called Max and asked to be picked up. "I am rather busy at the moment, Ms. McCall."

Swearing, she called her mother only to get voice mail. Calling her sister, she was told "I will be right there."

When Kristina showed up with Molly, Sam had her drive up and down the parking lot. No car. She knew it wasn't stolen, no one was going to mess around with Jason Morgan's woman's car. When she went to Kelly's to get something to eat with the girls, she asked where Alexis was.

"She went to visit Mac." said the younger girl who asked when Jason would be back from his business trip so they could plan a June wedding for them.

Kristina snapped at her sister saying. "He has to ask her first, dummy."

Sam flinched, Jason had barely told her he loved her, it was more like they were friends with benefits than what they had had the first time around. Something else to blame that bitch for she thought as she glared at Epiphany Johnson who had come though the door.

That one treated her like she was gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. Like her pet nurse was any better, she sneered.

Mac read the report and asked Frisco "What would Lucky need these drugs for?"

"Well, his ex-wife was locked up at Shadybrook right?" he asked archly.

The police commissioner turned white then said "I hope you are wrong, I so hope you are wrong about this."

"It explains a lot, though, doesn't it?" he asked. "And have you heard from Maxie?"

"No, Kate Howard called asking the same question." he said frowning.

Maxie tried to get out of the room, screaming her head off, wondering why she was being held and which of Jason's enemies had grabbed her.

"Hello Lover." said the dark haired men looking at the screen in amusement before telling the man behind him. "Let the geek wake up at home, make sure he believes what we want him too."

"Gladly." said the man with the British accent. "What about Morgan, are you sure he will survive the trip home?"

"When we want him too. But first I need to stir the pot a little more. Get one of the women, I don't care which one. Tape her, then send it out on the web. But be discreet, I want it to take a few days for someone to find it."

Nodding, the man left to do as they had discussed. Placing a call, he grimaced as he realized it was taking longer than planned for the beginning part of the plan to blow open. He had figured Spencer would blow the secret, to get freed from the charges, but it looks like he needed another incentive and they had a plethora of choices to make him do what they wanted.

"Ms. Hostage, a minute of your time." he said after unlocking the door. "I was hoping you would be a good girl and hold this newspaper up so I could film you."

Edward thanked the man from the junkyard, then went to see someone about some dirty tricks. "I want the building infested."

"I will get right on it." said the man with a chuckle as he hung up the phone while carrying the bug jar. "Well my little friends, time to put you to work."

After a few more calls, Edward was still unsure about telling Monica what her son had done. He thought about it then decided that since his friends and his whore of a mistress was more important to his grandson than the lovely Webber girl and their son, he would make a few more lives miserable.

Over the next day, Alexis dealt with banking and legal issues for everyone while Diane tried to put out fires for Sonny. Alexis own troubles had taken a backseat since Mac had agreed to let it ride for a few weeks. Meanwhile Ethan and Johnny were having a field day wiping out Sonny's product. They had help though they didn't know it.

When the health inspector shut down the hotel, then the diner and finally ordered Sonny to destroy his stock of coffee because of a bug infestation, it was in the news. When the Harborview Towers residents filed a class action lawsuit over the same subject Sonny vowed revenge on the two men he considered responsible.

But they were gone, Olivia was pissed and had written Johnny a letter telling him that he needed to grow up and stop the childish games, that she wasn't going to stand for it. As the two men hid out in the old abandoned sanitarium, Johnny was debating whether his deal with the old man was worth it, then he thought about what he had told him about Morgan and his coterie of worthless friends and he decided staying in the game was more important than a woman who he knew would eventually betray him for Sonny Corinthos.

Ethan on the other hand was worried about Kristina so he had gone to check on her only to hear her talking trash about Elizabeth and decided to school her on a few facts about her sister until he saw the bruises and thought to himself that she didn't deserve to have her dreams shattered.

Olivia was eating at the restaurant when she saw Carly being nice to Sam McCall and decided to question the blond. "You know, I am a bit shocked at how nice you are to her."

"Well, what happened with Sonny is in the past." she said shrugging. "She makes Jason happy."

"That is what I don't get. I mean how does a man forgive a woman who hired men to threaten the mother of his child, especially when the child was there and that is after she knew he had been kidnapped and did nothing about it."

Carly sat there, blinking then asked "What are you talking about?"

"I was talking to Kate and then did some thinking and Jake Spencer isn't your relation, he is Jason's. Didn't you know?"

A bit shocked, she said "Yes, but I was talking about what you said Sam did. There is no way Jason would forgive her doing that, trust me, I know Jason, and even if Elizabeth is Jake's mother, he wouldn't fuck Sam if she had did that."

Olivia told her all that Kate had found out from Monica and said "I don't think the woman knows that Jason is aware of it or that Jake is her grandson, but it's true."

Carly sat there long after Olivia had left and tried to figure out who she could ask. Going to the jail, she asked to speak to Lucky. "Did Sam hire men to threaten Elizabeth when she had the boys. Did she know who kidnapped Jake?"

Lucky grimaced and said "Yeah, it's true. She made a mistake, Carly. It was a simple moment of weakness after finding out that Jake was Jason's and we have forgiven her, after all she rescued Jake from the Russians. Like Jason said, she saved Jake."

Carly sat down and thought about it then went to talk to Alexis. She knew she wouldn't be able to forgive AJ nor Tony for what they did, so how was Jason able to get past this. "Alexis, what was the real story behind Sam hiring men to threaten Elizabeth and her sons? Did she really watch as he was kidnapped and not say anything to anyone?"

Molly entered the room and shouted at Carly "Get out, how dare you accuse Sam of doing that. My sister is the best, she would never do what you said. You- you are just jealous of the great love that Jason has for Sam, they are star crossed lovers who found each other again after a scarlet woman stole him away from her by tricking them."

Carly's jaw dropped as the little girl kept talking. Alexis quieted her daughter and sent her to her room saying she would be with her shortly.

"Alexis, a word to the wise, tell her the truth about her sister, before she makes that accusation to the wrong person and hears what happened between Sam and Ric." she stated then added. "I gather you didn't know?"

Alexis grimly said "No, but right now... frankly, I don't have time to deal with this."

"Well I do and I am going to. I get now why Elizabeth ended up in Shadybrook, frankly I would have shot your bitch of a daughter, then cut off Jason's balls even if he is my best friend." she said coldly before leaving to go home and talk to Jax.

Sam saw the call from Molly and sighed, her sister was a handful to deal with and right now she had more important things to deal with. Going up the stairs, she saw the liqueur bottle on the floor and rushed into Jason's room calling out his name.

Nothing.

Going the other way, she saw Spinelli and the geek was wasted as he tried to climb into bed. "Where have you been?"

Crying he said "Maxie ran off with a blond she knew years ago, left me alone at the spa. I have been dumped by my true love."

Helping him up, she took him into the bathroom and told him to take a shower. When he couldn't stand, she stripped him and was a bit surprised at what she saw. Well well, what have you been hiding Spinelli.

When he once again swayed, she stripped down to her bra and panties before getting in with him. Twenty minutes later, the sound of sex echoed to the downstairs where the man who looked like hell was staggering up to his room.

Looking towards the sound, he was telling himself to remind Spinelli to close his door next time when he fell down against the wall, his already weak knees not believing what he was seeing. Practically crawling back down the stairs, he got to the extra penthouse and let himself in, collapsing on the sofa as the pain in his heart matched the pain in his head.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 5**

**Dear Sir,**

**Attached you will find proof that you were being ripped off, do with as you please.**

**Nemesis**

Sonny growled as he held the numbers, he bellowed for Max then ordered the guard to go and get Bernie. "Bring his ass here, I want answers. Then find Spinelli, the guard in the lobby at the Towers said he arrived last night."

Milo drove to the warehouse while Max went to Jason's penthouse. Arriving, he let himself in with the spare key and hurried up the stairs. Entering the kids' room, he leaned over to wake him up and grimaced when he saw the two bodies.

Mr C said immediately, Max shook the geek who moaned and shuddered before trying to roll over. Stopping, he seemed to suddenly become happy as he said "Maxie?"

When the geek pulled the sheet back, Max couldn't control his nervous laughter as he saw Sam naked and still intimately attached to the geek. "Boy, I would say you have very big trouble coming your way. As for you Miss McCall, I doubt this is one moment of weakness Jason forgives."

"He will never hear about it." she swore at both of them before sliding out of bed and going to get dressed.

Spinelli looked confused then said "Why was Sam here in my bed, what happened to Maxie. My beloved was helping me recover from by drinking... how did Sam get here?"

Max cuffed the kid upside the head and then growled "Get dressed."

"I can't with you here." he whined only for Max to say "Move it, now. Sonny wants you.

Sam came out of the bathroom while Spinelli wrapped his lower half in the sheet and went to his closet where he found nothing, nothing at all. Going to Maxie's, there was nothing but bare walls.

"Sam, where are my clothes?" he asked.

Shrugging she replied "I don't know, they were there when I couldn't find mine. And you need to locate Jason, then find my car, I misplaced it. After that you can go see what Sonny wants."

"Ms. McCall." said Max striving for politeness. "When Mr. Corinthos orders someone to get to his place, that take precedence over some whore trying to find her boyfriend so she can lie about how she ended up in his roommates bed. If I were you, I would find a nice deep hole."

"Jason will understand, he always does." she said smugly. "Now why don't you toddle back to your boss and let Spinelli and I get to work."

Grabbing the kid wearing nothing but the sheet, Max grimaced then covered him until his arms couldn't move, then tossed him fireman style over his shoulder. "Excuse us."

Going to the elevator, Max told him to be quiet. When they arrived in the garage, he tossed him into the trunk of the car so he wouldn't have to listen to his mouth. As he was pulling out, he saw the large square hunk of metal in one of Jason's parking spots and called up to the penthouse.

"Ms. McCall, your missing car is in the garage." he said laughing as he drove away at the hunk of twisted metal that had once been one of Jason's vehicles.

Jason woke up, his head hurt and his heart felt betrayed as he remembered. Mumbling out loud, he couldn't help wondering why Spinelli would betray him after all he had done for the kid. Staggering to his feet, he was heading towards the door when he heard the elevator indicating someone was leaving.

There was the sound of it arriving again, then the doors closing. Deciding he needed to go over to his place and get showered and dressed to face what he had to do, he stumbled to the door wishing that this doctor had told him what was actually wrong with him.

All he had said was Jason had been injured, that he had taken yet another shot to his head. As he struggled to locate the time he had lost and to make sense of the jumbled memories wandering around in his head, he went next door and was about to head up the stairs when he heard someone coming off the elevator.

Ducking into the closet, he hid in his own penthouse, not wanting to face Spinelli until his head was back on straight.

Alexis was on her way to Diane's office when she stopped off to pick up the newspaper and some coffee. Freezing when she saw the front page side blurbs and saw her daughter's name, the attorney sat down and opened the paper.

Her eyes closed as she tried to figure out if Carly had done this, but even Carly Jacks wasn't this malicious. Reading how Ric had cheated on her with her own daughter while she had been suffering from cancer. Then the article listed Sam's past romances, her pregnancy with Sonny's child but the piece de resistance was the article detailing her past cons.

How she had been a hooker and finally the one that freaked Alexis out the most was what Sam had done to Elizabeth Webber. Her only consolation was that Jason Morgan came out looking like even more of an loser.

She got into her car and went to the office were she kept dealing with putting out the messes involving Sonny's, Carly's and her own family's lives. The hotel had been shut down, finding the roaches, then faulty wiring and now there was a problem with getting linen delivered and Jax was blaming Sonny but he was having problems with his legal businesses as well as his illegal ones.

The part she didn't get was how Johnny and Ethan had the contacts or the savvy to mess with what they were. As she placed yet another call to the planning board, her lights went out. Hearing Diane yelping, she walked into her office and said "What just happened?"

"I broke a heel on my Jimmy Choos." she snapped then went to make a call, glad she had insisted on a phone system that wasn't reliant on electricity only to hear nothing but dead air. Calling the phone company on her cell phone, she was pissed when they informed her that she hadn't paid her bills.

Threatening to sue them, she said she would fax over her paid bills, then went she called the Niagara Mohawk, they said the same thing. "Look, I want a copy of that record, I paid this bill."

Going to her filing cabinet, Diane took out her receipts still muttering as she went to the garage. Blinking as she saw the tow truck removing her car, she called out stop. "No can do, Miss Miller, next time pay your bills. The Port Charles First National Bank is repossessing their property. Take this up with them."

Diane was now pissed as she hailed at taxi and went to the bank where she was informed that her account was now being handled at the head office. "Where might that be?"

"ELQ, they bought the bank two days ago." said the snotty woman behind the desk. The red head went out to the cab and spat out the address for ELQ and then requested to see Edward Quartermaine.

"Miss Miller. What may I do for you?" asked Edward as he sat down and listened to what she had to say. "Yes, well I am aware of what is going on. Now I have a question for you. Were you aware that Sam McCall had watched while my great grandson was kidnapped, then told his mother he was dead? Where you aware that she then hired to men to threaten dear sweet Elizabeth in the park while she was there with the boys?"

"What does that have to do with my car? And no, I wasn't." she said frowning as she wondered how Jason had missed that bit of information.

"Where you aware that my grandson knew?" he asked only for her to tense up and say "That isn't possible."

Handing her Elizabeth's letter, he saw the way her face darkened then heard her start to mutter and knew he had made the right decision. "So here is the offer, come to work for me, ending your partnership with Alexis Davis who is aware of these things her child did."

"Or?" she asked.

"No or, I just didn't think you would want to work for a man who would profess to love a woman who endangered his child multiple times. I am aware that you are Miss Webber's former attorney of record until she ended things with my rather unsavory grandson."

Diane thought about what she had read, then about Sam McCall and knew that it was a no-brainer. Jason and Sonny would look at it as betrayal but as far as she was concerned after listening to Jason talk about wanting Claudia Zachara to pay, she had no qualms about leaving him to his fate when he was screwing the woman who had hurt his own son.

She had had issues about how he had whined about the danger to Jake, then had become Jocelyn's godfather and was always with the Corinthos and Davis kids already, this just sealed the deal. "If you had come to me with this before messing with my bills, I would have been just as willing to come work for you."

"I just wanted to assure you, I could protect you against retaliation from Sonny." he said with a grin that he quickly lost. "Elizabeth Webber, her grandmother and her sons has been missing for two weeks, and I doubt anyone in that group has even bothered to acknowledge it, yet if my other grandson were to so much as stub his toe, it would be reason for raising a stink. So they can sink into their own muddy hole."

Diane went to her office where the lights were now working and heard Alexis on the phone trying to locate her daughter and she didn't even bother going in. Writing out the letter of resignation, Diane faxed a copy to Jason and Sonny's office then took a copy in and laid it down on Alexis' desk.

The harried woman read it then looked up and said "Is this a joke?"

"Answer two questions for me. Did you know that Sam was behind the attack on Elizabeth and her boys in the park and knew who had kidnapped Jake the first time?"

Seeing her expression, Diane said "I thought so. We are done. And as an officer of the court I am required to let the police know about this, and I will be making a call to the ABA right after I move into my new offices. Alexis, you are not the woman, I thought you were. Today is Wednesday, by Friday I want you and all of your stuff out of here."

Alexis was thrown by the cold expression on Diane's face then by what was happening and how fast when what she said hit her. "Today is Tuesday."

"No, today is hump day." she said then answered her phone and listened to what Max had to say and after hanging up said with a bitter chuckle. "Your daughter was caught with her pants down again, this time with Spinelli, you might want to tell her to keep her legs crossed at some point."

The confused mother sat there, then debated whether she had time to visit Sam before heading to Kristina's school. Today was the day her AP Civics class read the paper and chose articles to discuss, and with her sister being exhibit A, she wanted to get her out of there, she had had a rough couple of months and this wasn't going to be good.

Looking at her watch, she drove to penthouse only to hear they were planning on fumigating today and no one was being allowed in. "But I have to see my daughter..."

"Ma'am, most of the residents are already out of the building."

Lucky was in court, standing he said "Not guilty."

"Fine, so we will proceed with a trial, I will arrange for a jury to be empaneled."

"Sir, we are requesting a bench trial to expedite the matter. My client has been falsely accused and would prefer to handle this as quickly as possible."

"Are you ready to give opening statements?" asked the judge only for Mitch Williams to stand and say "We are; your honor."

Lucky was furious by the end of the older man's statements and had been ordered twice by the judge to sit down and be quiet. "If your attorney can't control you, we will use restraints, is that clear?"

His own attorney did his best, but Lucky had already gotten on the bad side of the judge and his glowering at the man wasn't helping as his attorney kept trying to say he was a peaceful man whose lone mistakes were being used against him.

The reporter in the back of the room was diligently recording everything as his family which as sitting two rows behind Spencer and right in front of him ran their mouths quietly to one another. Calling his boss at lunch time, he said "I have a great article. And I won't even need to exaggerate. Cassadine, by the way, wasn't there."

Nik left Helena's room, then went to a payphone, knowing he couldn't use his cell phone for this. "I want her moved, quietly. Then find Elizabeth or I will give Morgan everything."

The man on the other end said "You keep threatening me with Morgan, too bad I am not worried, after all, I have a few things he would love to learn about you and your granny."

Hanging up, the man looked at his partner and said "He is fast becoming a problem."

"I don't agree, his desperation is showing. Have you located our missing pigeon?"

"Not yet." he said grimly. "I am getting concerned as to who is also after Elizabeth Webber, we can't play our game without the queen."

"When is the truth about the drugs due to come out in court? I want to make sure that we have a ring side seat along with a few doctors, so that part can move along."

"I don't know, Spencer took a bench trial so it should be soon. What about McCall, her end is moving rather quickly now that the old man is now involved."

Johnny let out a laugh as he saw what they had gotten off this shipment. They were now removing things piecemeal, bugging Sonny by taking him on bite by bite. "Lovett, have you any urge to be an art owner?"

"What?" asked the Aussie who then laughed when he saw the iconic painting. "Are you serious?"

"I would guess it is, there was an auction this week. I say we give it to a museum as an anonymous donation courtesy of Sonny." Walking to the doorway, he said "I have to deal with our benefactor, he doesn't want to know about this, but he does have something else in mind."

Ethan sat down, reading the notes that Johnny had found at the Zachara estate and something was ringing a bell with him, but he couldn't place it.

Meanwhile Johnny meet with Edward Quartermaine who handed him the stack of newspapers for the last week then said "Are you going to be able to take on the Spencers considering your past with Lulu?"

Reading the front page and then recalling the scene he had almost interrupted the night before, he said "No problem. What do you need?"

"Luke Spencer has a painting he uses to hide stuff, get it. Trust me, it is the key to taking him down."

"Why are you after him?"

"I'm not, I am after the Cassadines and he has the best information and isn't going to want to share without an incentive." he replied before rolling up the window on the limo. Johnny thought about it, then went back to see Ethan. "What can you tell me about a painting owned by your family of someone in the Cassadine family."

"Why?" he asked cautiously.

"That part I couldn't tell you before. Turns out Helena Cassadine didn't grab Elizabeth or her boys and your father is covering that up for some reason along with Cassadine himself."

"It's at his old club, we can head over now. No one is ever there." he said then with a sly grin said "I say we do an exchange; a painting for a painting."

Monica answered her phone then said "Great, when are you going to move on this?"

"In the morning." said the man on the other end. "We are going to take one part out of play first though."

"Just make sure that I get to see her, I want to face her, let her know that I am aware what she did." she said coldly before making yet another phone call. Sam McCall aka Angela Monroe aka a hundred other names was going down. For once she was going to help Jason, her poor son was not going to believe this one.

Carly had visited Sonny the night before and was still not sure she believed what he had told her. There was no way, Jason would have talked to Sam McCall ever again, let alone taken her back after what she had done.

At first she had questioned whether or not it was true but now she decided it wasn't and she would go straight to the woman involved and get the real story, because there is no way Jason would have gotten back with her if it was true, just no way.

Arriving at the penthouse, she saw the door was half open and listened as Sam was telling someone what happened to her car. The blond entered the penthouse and looked around, she still didn't get what decorating disaster happened here, but if Jason was happy with it so was she.

"Carly, whatever it is, I don't have time." she snapped.

"So I heard, who did you piss off Sam?" she drawled then setting down her purse said "We have to talk. Tell me with your own words what happened with Jake's first kidnapping."

When she gave a very biased version of where she was the victim and shocked when someone had kidnapped Jake and couldn't find a way to tell anyone, Carly sat down having turned white. "Okay, the incident at the park."

At the end, Carly stood and walked to mantle from where she removed the photos of her sons and her daughter then said "When you see my ex best friend, give him a message, we are done."

Sam looked at her dumbfounded and then said "Excuse me?"

"You know..." she stopped and snorted in disgust. "There is nothing to say. I have no idea how you did it, but you have managed to turn Jason into someone I don't want to know. Someone I can't even look at."

"What the hell is your problem?" she asked.

"The Jason Morgan I know, he would never talk to you again, let along fuck you after what you did. That he has... well... he is dead to me." Carly said her voice catching as she said something she never thought she would.

"How dare you?" huffed Sam while the man in the closet sat down stunned. How could Carly act like that after all he had done for her... all he had forgiven her for.

"ME? What about you, what you did to his son, to any child is unforgivable, I don't care who the mother is. Don't give me that you saved Jake from the second kidnapping, because frankly, I can't help wondering about your involvement in that mess." she sneered.

"Please, like you care." Sam snorted.

Carly calmly looked at her and said "I do, my son was grabbed twice. I stood up in court and shot the bastard after the whole town acted like I should forgive him and like I deserved that to happen. The only person who stood by me, was Jason. The one man I thought would never forgive someone for endangering a child."

Carly just looked at Sam then said "You might want to take a gander at the newspaper some time today. There is a lovely series of articles about you, courtesy of Monica Quartermaine. I never thought I would cheer a member of that family on when they were out for blood, but frankly, I hope she uses all the power, all the wealth and all the contacts she has at her disposal to destroy like you have my faith in Jason."

Walking to the door, she took the copy of her key to Jason's door and said "Here give this to him, I won't be needing it anymore."

Jerry slipped back to the spare penthouse and grinned. At least one of the enablers was seeing through Jason Morgan, now they just had to keep telling the truth and uncovering all his lies. Calling Franco he said "Did you take care of my people?"

"Done, they said he will believe what he was told to believe. Morgan has no idea where he had really been held and doesn't remember who he was being held captive with. You need to locate our your unwanted guest before he figures things out and shows up here in Port Charles."

Gail was working with Elizabeth, they had to wean her off the hallucinogens and then move on to what had been really happening. She felt sick for the girl, Elizabeth had been at the center of the perfect storm and had had no idea.

Lucky had drugged her trying to control her love, instead what he had done had caused her to get close to Nik who had had his old crush reawakened. Then there was the father of her youngest son, Jason Morgan who for some unknown reason had abandoned her and taken up with the woman who had hurt their son.

That along would have been enough to send her over the edge, but with it all happening at once, she hadn't stood a chance. Gail was looking at the notes Annie had written about Elizabeth's screaming while asleep the night before and she gave a heavy sigh as she realized that the drugs were still there, still blocking her emotions and memories.

"Audrey, do you recall anything that would there, anything that would cause her to fight against getting clear of these pills. There has to be more than we are aware of."

"I honestly don't know, she was keeping so many secrets, and was in so much pain that she had to keep hidden... I have no idea." she said before walking to the window and then asked. "Do you think that having the boys here is bad for them?"

"No, I mean, they know she is sick, they unfortunately seem fairly resilient." she added. "What do you think is going on in Morgan's head?"

Jason was still in the closet when he heard the door quietly closing as Carly left. He listened as Sam see-sawed between ranting at Carly to laughing while telling his friend good riddance, that she had been a pain in her life for years and that Jason was well rid of her.

Hearing the sound of a ringing phone, he listened to her end of the conversation then heard her telling Alexis she would be right over. When she had left, Jason exited the closet and sat down on the sofa. His head felt numb, his heart was hurting and now his best friend had walked out on him and he didn't understand why.

Going to his room, he took a shower, holding onto the handrail then after getting dressed, slipped back to the spare penthouse with some clothes and his toiletries.

His headache had worsened and he was soon fast asleep. The man slipped down the stairs and said "Thank you, Morgan. For making this easy on me."

When he had given the enforcer a needle to the arm, he quietly disappeared as quickly as he had come in. Then deciding he needed to do some reconnaissance, he left the building. An hour later in an empty warehouse he told his partner. "All is going according to plan, we got some luck. McCall and Spinelli had sex and Morgan saw them."

"Set up the maze, I want it ready for when we get our last chess piece in place for my game with Mr. Morgan." he said with a cruel smile. "Last time, he made the wrong choice, let's see what happens when the whole of Port Charles joins in our little game."

Snippets:

It was the end of the day and things didn't look any brighter for anyone in Port Charles or anyplace else.

Audrey was sitting at the window staring sightlessly at the water. Hearing footsteps, she turned and asked "Is everything okay with Elizabeth?"

"She might have turned a corner, she is crying but isn't calling out for Lucky Spencer." replied Annie who then said "Gail is in with her, but don't get your hopes up Aunt Audrey, we are only at stage one of her recovery."

Tom arrived at GH and sat down with Steven who explained what was going on, then said "I need you and the others to review every chart, every single case she worked on, either here or at the police station."

"I am meeting Kevin and this Rae, I brought Simone along, may she help?"

Nodding, Steven called Mac and told him that an upcoming lawsuit was requiring a very quiet investigation into Lainey Winters' professional abilities. When the man had agreed to let Keven pick his brain, his uncle called the doctor and said go for it.

Gail sat down with Elizabeth who was weeping quietly. She wasn't restrained any longer but seemed to be confused as to where and when she was. "Gail, my boys, where are my boys?"

"Here, would you like to see them. They are asleep already." Leading Elizabeth down the hall, she let her into Jake and Cam's bedroom. The young mother sat down, touching her little boys faces and then looking up said. "How did I lose track of so much time?"

"What is the last thing you remember where the memories aren't fuzzy?"

Elizabeth kissed Jake then Cameron before leaving the room to walk the halls of the strange house. "I remember being depressed at Christmas, then New Years Eve. There was a ball at GH... I think there was a fire... then it gets blurry, I was lying in a hospital bed. Lucky was there, along with a doctor, I think... I was given a prescription to help with my respiratory problems from the fire."

"Elizabeth, who was this doctor? It isn't anyplace in your records about drugs being proscribed for you." she said cautiously. So far Lucky had been mentioned and the young nurse hadn't flown off the handle so she might not be out of it, but they didn't want to take any chances."

"I don't know, he worked at County." she said with a shrug then asked "Why is it important?"

"We will get to that." she said with a sigh. "Do you remember being rescued from GH, kissing Lucky."

Her eyes widening, Elizabeth said "No, I wouldn't do that. I was sure of one thing after the mess I had been living, make that two things. One, I wouldn't ever forget the lessons I learned in the past year and two that Lucky Spencer might be a good father, but he was a lousy husband. I won't dare let him kiss me, let alone kiss him. Not after what we had gone though, before."

Patrick was home talking to his wife when her Uncle knocked at the door. "Patrick, I need your expertise."

Showing him the pill, Mac said "How would someone get a prescription for these?"

Patrick took the pill then went to his laptop and ran the number on it. Blinking as he read what it was, he then turned to Mac and said "You wouldn't. They would only be proscribed while you were an inpatient at a Psychiatric hospital, how did you get one?"

"Try a whole bag full. I have about 100 doses."

"Are they all the same milligrams, because you would take four a day once a week. So what you have is... Mac, when we inventoried what we had at GH after the fire, ours were missing. Lainey made a call to someone in your department about this."

Mac winced as he got even more proof that he didn't want. "I was never given the message. Can you give me an estimate as to how many that is?"

"Around a gross or 250 doses, or almost enough for four years." he said grimly.

"Is there a dosage difference for size." he asked.

"Less for someone smaller, obviously." he said. "Mac, where did you find these?"

"Remember the narcotics in the article that we found on Lucky? These are them. We also found about twenty Oxycontin. We need to keep this quiet, but I was looking into it because of a personal investigation."

Leaving, he called Frisco who snapped. "Jones."

"The drugs, they were lost at GH during the fire a few years ago." he said as he drove home for his meeting with Keven Collins. "Are you getting anyplace?"

"Let's just say, the case is going to be air tight against Ms. McCall and anyone else involved. I heard some rumors about Alexis Davis and you, where are you going to come down on this?"

"Find the proof, take them down." he said. "I learned my lesson with Katherine Belle. Speaking of that one, find Spencer Sr. Get him to talk, he might have a good story to tell about her falling off the parapet."

"Old news, I want more recent, more damning news." he said in a dour tone. "When are they arresting your suspect?"

"Tomorrow, after they deal with someone else this evening. What about McCall?"

"I want her out, wandering. I heard Spinelli is back, have you talked to Maxie."

"She left a garbled voice-mail, something about staying on an extra week, that she dumped Spinelli and was moping."

"Thank god, that kid is unsavory to say the least." stated Frisco as he followed Matt Hunter into the coffee shop. "I have to go."

"What do you have for me?" he asked the doctor.

"Not much, with the fire it ruined a lot of records." he stated. "But this is what I have."

Edward was sitting in the den, there was a tense silence as Monica read the paper and Tracy huffed and puffed about Luke not being there. Finally Monica snapped. "Spencer isn't welcome here. I don't care if he is married to you. He and his family can find someplace else to mooch off someone. And don't bring Lila into it, I think she would be cheering me on right now."

Standing, Tracy walked to the door then said "Brooklynn is in town, is she banned along with the rest of my family?"

"No, I talked to her earlier, she is going to be staying with her old pal, Dante Falconari. You know, you might want to check in on your stepdaughter, from what I gather, she pulled her usual temper tantrum without knowing the facts and he ended things with her." snarked Monica. "Now, do us a favor, either go to your room or get out of my house."

Edward stood and walked over to sit next to Monica on the sofa as they got a shaky visitor who snuck in the side door needing to talk to Luke. "Monica, you have been edgy for days. What is going on?"

"It's Jason, Edward. There is something I need to tell you." she said. "Jas-"

"-has a son." he finished for her then listened to the rest of her story then bowed his head knowing he was about to break her heart. "Monica, I need you to listen to me, let me tell you the whole story, without interrupting, please?"

Monica listened, stunned and sure he was wrong. When he handed her the copy of Elizabeth's letter, he saw the moment she realized he had been telling the truth. He saw the heart break in her eyes and held her while she cried.

"No, I don't want to believe it. Not Jason. He wouldn't do this. He is a better man than this."

"There is more." Edward told her all he had found out. About the hit and run involving Courtney and the other things Sam had done over the years that Jason had covered. The middle aged blond stood and the man in the library could see her face as she turned and said "We have to talk to Elizabeth."

"I know, I know." he said standing himself before giving her the rest of the bad news. "Monica, there is more, I am trying to locate Elizabeth with Steven Webber. She and the boys along with Audrey are missing. They have been for over a month."

The woman felt her knees buckle and said "Elizabeth is pregnant, did Helena grab her? Did she-" Edward held her hands as he knelt next to her.

"No, it's not Helena. She has been in a coma since the same night. They have a tape of Elizabeth being carted out of the hospital by two men. Helena showed up later, then pissed off had a temper tantrum causing her to collapse."

The man in the other room, sat down numbly listening to his grandfather telling his mother about the woman and boys he had walked away from. "We are tracking things, but there is nothing, no trail to follow. Cassadine and Luke were insisting it was Helena and that the best thing was to be quiet for now."

"What changed?" she said her hands shaking.

"A lot, Steven and I have had no luck tracking them. I hired Anna Devane and her business partner, who have been looking and they found nothing. All that is left is the mob angle and Jason is not an option since the boil attached to his butt wouldn't stay out of it and I want her no where near this case."

"I agree, you need to talk to Frisco Jones. He has a tape of Sam and his daughter talking about Jake and how she only rescued him from his kidnappers so that Jason would be grateful. I can't believe that the little boy I raised would take up with that woman again."

"Monica, he hasn't been our Jason in a very long time but this man, this Jason. For the first time ever, I am ashamed he is my grandson." he said struggling to stand. "I swear one thing on my beloved Lila's memory, that woman, that horrid nasty miserable excuse of of flesh is going to pay along with the rest of those pathetic users who destroyed Jason Morgan."

Monica looked up and held out her hand and said "I am in total agreement. You concentrate on getting Elizabeth, Audrey and those boys back. I will deal with Sam McCall. Now that I know the truth, the gloves are coming off."

Jason sat in the library, his head didn't hurt as bad as he listened to his family plot to destroy Sam, he would deal with that later, but first he had to find Elizabeth and her family and to do that he needed Spinelli.

Mac finished talking to Kevin, the left a message for Maxie to call him, she was going to have to deal with what she had done. Claire had called and informed him that Mitch Williams was willing to make a deal, but she was going to have to give him something if she wanted to stay out of jail.

Luke saw Steven Webber heading his way and ducked into the back office with the lights out. He had no answers and was beginning to get the feeling that Helena wasn't part of the equation. Leaving out the back door, he went to his old club and sat down with two bottles grabbed from Haunted Star.

Turning the covered painting, so he would be looking at it's back, he flipped the dust cover and stepped back as he realized what he had was smaller than his painting. Looking at the front, he swore as he realized what he was looking at.

A painting worth a hundred million dollars had just fallen into his lap. Normally he would call Sonny, make a deal to work with him to sell it, but he still hadn't forgiven the man for what had gone down with Ethan. Instead he made a call then went to find out what had happened to Helena.

Lulu glared at Brooklynn who was eating dinner with Kate, Olivia and Dante. She had been ordered to work this evening but she had no intention of losing her boyfriend to the failed rock star. She still hadn't figured out how Dante had met Brooklynn unless it was through Mac Scorpio who hated her for what had gone down with Georgie.

Moving closer, she saw Dante and Brooklynn talking about their day and she saw him kiss the girl on the cheek as they joked around. Leaving, she went to see Carly who told her. "Lulu, I am dealing with something right now. Please come back tomorrow or the next day."

Nik hung up the phone then went to his window as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong with his plan. Elizabeth was his, she had even told him she loved him. The baby she was carrying was Lucky's, the tests had been kept from her though. His only lead had just came back as a dead end and he was trying to work his next angle.

Hearing footsteps, he saw Sam and asked "What do you want?"

"You to get Lucky out of jail. His bail is a million dollars and I need his help."

"Tough, my brother can rot in jail. Go away, Sam, I am not in the mood."

"Yeah, I know, the Saint with the tarnished Halo is gone and you are trying to track down your kid. Work with me and I will locate her for you." she said smugly.

"Sam, you couldn't locate your own sagging breasts with a compass and Spinelli helping you, now get out." he said irately. "Go bother Morgan, or Corinthos or who ever it is your screwing this year."

Sonny and Bernie were trying to figure out who had bought the Monet with his money. And it was from an unlaundered account connected to the Zachara family. It wasn't Johnny nor was it anyone else they could track down. "Find this woman, track her down and get my money back."

Spinelli was looking for Jason discreetly when he saw it. "Sir, Mr. Corinthos, you have got to see this."

When the geek called him by his real name, Sonny came over and watched the screen. "Track that back, I want an address. Max, find Sam McCall and tell her to get over here then find Jax and keep an eye on him."

They watched as Jason muttered and seemed to be drowning in his own sweat. When Sonny heard what he was saying, he swore then asked Spinelli, did you know about this?"

"No, I swear, I had no idea." he said worried about Sam and if she had been aware of what Jason was telling the world on You tube. "I have deleted it, but once it is out there, there is no calling it back sir. Anyone could have downloaded it sir."

Sam arrived at Sonny's just as the State Troopers arrived. "Mr. Corinthos, we are looking for a Damien Spinelli."

Spinelli stood and held his breath until he was told. "Damien Spinelli, you are under arrest for the murder of Georgie Jones..."

"NO! I wouldn't kill her, I love was her friend, Diego Alcazar did this. Not me."

"We will discuss this at the barracks." said the plain clothes officer. "We have photos, we have DNA evidence that wasn't available a few years ago and we have your friend's statement."

Jason got the strength to stand so he could go and find Spinelli. He needed the geek to help him get Elizabeth and her sons home. He could deal with his heart break at the man he had taken in, the boy he had been so willing to let into his life had slept with Sam.

Franco turned to Jerry Jacks and said "The deck has been cleared, find Elizabeth Webber and then let the game begin. Has he received the package?"

"In the morning. I left it someplace he won't miss it." he replied with a cold chuckle. "Jason Morgan was given a chance, he didn't take it. So now we make him understand what it feels like to have everyone spit in your face, to have everyone want you dead. Then we give him the choice."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 6

Mac hung up the phone, and then went to his door. "Falconari, get in here."

When the man had sat down, he said "Go to Hayes Landing and investigate this stolen car, find out where these boys got it, the date, the time and report back to me and only me."

Wondering why he was looking into a stolen car, he did as ordered and returned to give his boss the information. "Thank you; I have another job for you. Go to Shadybrook and get me a copy of Elizabeth Webber's file, including all blood work. There is a release form from her brother and her attorney in the file."

Dante did as requested, as he was leaving he saw Nik Cassadine talking to Dr. Winters and then money changing hands. When he told his boss about it, the man then ordered him to get the DNA tests for all three of Elizabeth's children, as well as her medical file from GH. "Epiphany Johnson is waiting for you."

Beginning to feel like an errand boy, the Italian returned to the office only to be told that Mac wanted him to join him in the old conference room. Arriving he found all the files he had brought along with a couple he hadn't. "Sir, I have those files you requested."

"Good. Sit down, we need to have a talk then you and I are going to prove that Detective Spencer was and is obsessed with his ex-wife to the point of drugging her. You start with his stuff since you don't know him as well as I do, you might find something I missed. Any little thing, any small details you need or have questions with, we talk out loud about. There is something going on here that I am missing."

"Sir, why me?" he asked as he picked up the first file, he was surprised at the answer.

"Because if I am right, you're going to be the one to figure this out, two facts you should know, Jason Morgan is the father of her younger son, not Spencer and that Spencer has known all along."

Dante read the files; question Mac about things he didn't get. "Sir, this faked death, did anyone ever get the whole story after he was sane again?"

Mac looked up then called Kevin Collins who told him that Lucky refused to talk about it. "No, they didn't."

Going back to reading, Dante went to Spencer's application for the academy as well as his police file. "Sir, do you have his mental health evaluation forms, I can't find them."

Mac went to his side of the room and said "No, they aren't here."

"Did he have them done?" Mac made a call then swore silently as he didn't get the answer he wanted. More evidence piling up against Lainey Winters. Mac was reading the DNA files and said "Did you miss the test for Jake?"

"No, there was nothing in the computer files." He said then went to help Mac and found Kelly Lee's file. "Wait, here is a sealed envelope dated for about that time."

Mac opened it then taped the other two against it. "Look at this, what do you see?"

"The tested fathers were all different?" he asked as he saw two with the same person then said "Why is the mother's DNA strand different as well?"

Mac went out to the bullpen and to a file and pulled out Elizabeth's rape file, it was the only one he hadn't brought into the room. Entering he found what he was looking for.

"We had Elizabeth tested for sexually transmitted diseases after her rape, there was rapist at the time we thought was a possibility in her case. And they ran a DNA test."

Looking at them, Dante said "The only one that matches is the one for Jake."

"The question is why?" asked Mac before going back to the files. They now had five questions written down and less answers than before they started this. Two hours later, after having lunch brought in and adding more questions then getting answers, Mac said "Let's go over these.

was Lucky in the park the night Elizabeth was raped? He lived on the other side of town and had been at the school, there was no reason for him to have been there.

2. What had Helena done to Lucky and why had she been so obsessed with having Elizabeth get together with Nik, then and now?

3. Why hadn't Lucky been upset about Ric Lansing but had flipped out at the idea of Morgan? Who messed with Cam's DNA tests and why?

4. Why had Lucky joined the police department?

5. Why had Morgan and Elizabeth not told the truth of what happened on the roof with Manny Ruiz?

6. Jake's kidnapping, why had Lainey gone off protocol and accused Elizabeth?

7. Jake's second kidnapping, was the Russians in town a coincidence, they had never found the kingpin, only the peons, who had been in charge?

8. The drugs, had Lainey stolen them or had Lucky taken advantage of the confusion and when he had first dosed Elizabeth. The files from County had shown them in her blood stream while recovering there.

9. Why fake DNA tests for Elizabeth's latest pregnancy?

10. Where were Elizabeth and her family and who had them? Cassadines? Spencers? Or was it mob related? Or did it have to do with none of the above?

Dante stretched then seeing the clock asked if they could pick it up in an hour. "I promised to join my mother for dinner."

Leaving, Dante cautiously entered the restaurant wanting to avoid a blind attack by Lulu Spencer. They had parted ways when Brooklynn had given him a more thorough background on the blond. He had always sworn he wouldn't be taken in by someone like this father and yet had almost fallen for the girl who wasn't that far off.

"Dante, thanks for joining us." His mother said then added. "I know you are busy, but Carly needs a favor."

Standing, he was ready to walk away when she said "I need to find someone; I just heard they are missing and it is urgent."

"Who?" he asked looking at the blond who was part Jekyll and Hyde.

"Her name is Elizabeth Webber and in spite of what my cousin may be telling you, she isn't what they are saying." She said then with a twisted grin added. "What I have been saying. I learned some stuff this week, something I can't tell you about, but she is in danger."

"Why do you say that?" he asked. "Did you or your family do something to her and her kids?"

Carly's eyes narrowed and said "You are already investigating aren't you? Look, I didn't do anything and let's just say that I finally get her and what has been going on. If I am right… if I am right, she is in trouble."

"Why not go to your pal Morgan? Isn't he the father of her son Jake?"

"Don't take that tone, you know nothing about that." She snapped then said "And I wish I could but Jason Morgan, the man I knew as Jason is gone."

Dante nodded then went to the bar and called Mac "I am on my way back, do you want something to eat from here? I will get some takeout. This was an ambush by Carly Jacks trying to get information about Elizabeth."

Mac gave him his food order then said "She is a piece of work."

Carly followed Dante as he walked back to the station through the park, when he stopped and seemed to be examining a park bench, she thought he was on to her, and then he took out his phone and took some pictures with it before continuing on.

Once at the station, she saw Mac leave a side room and join Dante in his office and couldn't help wondering what Sonny would think of his son being so close to Mac Scorpio when curiosity got the best of her.

Slipping into the room, she started at one side and read her way to the other; she had just approached the note pad in the center when she heard someone cough. "Tell me why I shouldn't have you arrested for this, Mrs. Jacks?"

Looking up at Mac she said as she read the questions, "Because I think I can answer some of the questions you have written down here. Let me make a call and I will help."

Wanting to tell her he didn't need her help, he instead told Dante they would listen to what she had to say but to take it with a grain of salt. Carly let Jax know she was at the station with Dante and Mac and with a laugh told him she wasn't under arrest.

Sitting down, she said "The first one, I have no answer to, but I do know he didn't drive at that time. And Nik had a thing for Elizabeth, I remember his attacking Jason at the Christmas party about ten years ago. He kept going on and on about how she was being disloyal to Lucky's memory by being with Jason."

Mac's head came up, he remembered that part. "When you ran Deception, I remember Gia, Taggert's sister, he told her about Elizabeth's rape didn't he?"

"I think so, why?" she asked only for his to move her on to the next question. "That happened way too quickly and is something I have always wondered about. Elizabeth was talking to Dr. Meadows when she found out she was pregnant, she swore they used protection. As for Lucky, he was chasing that blond who looked like his mother, remember?"

"And I have no idea about this Cam DNA thing, are you sure you weren't given the wrong results?" she said feeling a bit sorry for Elizabeth if it turned out Ric was his father.

Mac looked at her then said "We know who the father isn't, Ric Lansing. I ran the sample taken during the Virus scare a few years ago and compared it to the one for Cam taken at the same time."

"Did you run Zander?" she asked only for Mac to announce. "I don't have one for him. His entire file is gone."

"Lucky joined the department to get one up on a lot of people, I think he watched Taggert and decided to emulate him." She announced in disgust.

"Who is Taggert?" asked Dante.

"An officer who got fired for using his job to harass Sonny and a few others, he was Deke's partner in the city and followed Sonny here intent on taking him down. The Manny thing, Mac, well, that one is all on Spencer. Jason's wouldn't have said anything and Elizabeth was probably under the illusion that being thought a hero would help Lucky grown a set of balls and a brain."

Dante blinked at the venom in her tone. "Lainey Winters, sorry Mac, but since her father's death… I talked to her after Michael got shot … let's just say, she wasn't any help."

"What about the kidnapping of Jake?" asked Dante.

"A better question at the time would have been, were they after Jake because of Jason or Sam and Lucky because I heard her say it was because of Jason's relationship with Elizabeth, how did they know about? Because I only learned a few days before and you know how close I was to Jason."

"And Mac, no on knew who was in charge there." Mac was a bit surprised at what Carly was giving them and from the looks of things so was Dante. "And what drugs?"

Hearing what they had to say, Carly thought about what was going on with Jason, and couldn't help recalling that Sam had been all over the hospital during that mess and it was about when Jason started to change. "I wouldn't put it past Lucky to have drugged her, she kissed him on the roof and I didn't think it made any sense at the time."

Thinking on it Carly asked "Are you sure she is pregnant? The test was run at GH along with the DNA tests. Both Nik and Lucky would have to be suspects because they both want to control her. If she is drugged, she might not realize something is wrong."

Then taking a deep breath, she said "There are a few names missing who would like to hurt Elizabeth. Sam McCall being number one on that list, I know you read the article in the paper, why wasn't she arrested?"

"The entire case is in the Attorney General's hands."

Looking at the list, she said "I could see Nik or his Granny grabbing her, but why Audrey and the boys, same with Lucky."

"What about Luke?" he asked.

"Luke, are you kidding? Not even to help Lucky, he sees Elizabeth as a newer version of his ex-wife; he has been staying neutral but he doesn't want them together and I know if he knew about the drugs, Luke would have made it stop."

"There is no reason for the mob to grab all of them, Dante can tell you that." She said only for him to sit up and say "What if this isn't mob business but mob personal business?"

Turning to Carly he said "How many people know about Jake and that he is Jason's?"

She sat down and grabbed one of the pens. "Jason, Spinelli, Lucky, Sam. I do and Sonny does. Lulu and more than likely Nik does."

Dante went to the State Police barracks and talked to Spinelli who said "I didn't kill Georgie."

Mac and he both knew that, they were well aware it was a ploy to isolate Sam McCall. "I will help you if you answer a few questions for me. Who all knew that Jake is Jason's kid?"

Spinelli hesitated then gave him the same named but added "Diane, Lucky Spencer's parents, Johnny Zachara and I told Maxie."

Shaking his head, Dante went to find Lulu who after finding out he was there about Elizabeth ranted and raved about the woman before saying. "I told Ethan."

Going back to the station, he gave his boss the news who swore then said "You can safely assume that the entire Zachara family knew and that means Lansing knew. I have to go and see someone, you keep checking into this."

"How?" he asked.

"I hate to say it, but we need to find out what your father knows."

Dante talked to his father, bringing it around to Morgan and his kid and got an earful that convinced him even more that Sonny was a selfish human being who thought the world centered on him.

Meeting Mac back at the station, he said "What next?"

"You up for searching the wood by where my accident happened?" he asked as they went to ruined woods. An hour later, Johnny was driving by when he saw Dante's vehicle and pulled further up before moving closer and getting an earful.

When they were tired and had left, he went down the scene and searched. Finding the disk still in it's covering; he said "Let's find out what is on you and why the police are so interested.

After watching it, he called the Quartermaine house and told Edward. "I found proof that Nik Cassadine knew what his granny was up to."

It was almost two o'clock when the prosecution rested and the judge as Lucky's attorney if he was ready to begin. "I am your honor; I would like to call Lulu Spencer to the stand."

Lulu had rushed to the courthouse after her visit by Dante to check on her brother and was not thrilled to be called to the stand, not that it mattered. The judge quickly ruled her testifying about what she had heard others talking about was hearsay. She was allowed to talk about Elizabeth's affairs, about Lucky raising Jake, and how in her opinion Lucky would never hit his wife.

"Ms. Spencer, what do you consider abusive?" asked Mitch Williams. "Would you consider this?"

He showed her the tape of Lucky verbally attacking Elizabeth, then his freak-out when he learned about Nik and her. When she said he was just upset, he had just learned she was cheating on him again.

"Why didn't he do this in private, wouldn't that have been more appropriate?"

"He was angry, he couldn't stay calm enough to do that." She said.

"And this incident, what about this one?" Lulu was furious when her own attack was shown. "Ms. Spencer, why were you at GH? Were you injured?"

"I was there to see her; I wanted to let her know how I felt."

"So you felt it was appropriate to go to her workplace?"

"Well, I was angry." She muttered.

"That seems to be a theme in your family. Elizabeth cheated on your brother, what about him, has he ever cheated on her?"

"That was because of the drugs, he slept with Maxie to get pills." She said while the defense attorney protested it being brought up.

"Excited utterance, your honor."

"Overruled, Councilor, Miss Spencer's answer was given freely. Continue."

"Any other affairs?"

"He slept with Sam McCall but that was after…" she shut up as she realized she was making things worse. "Besides, it is much worse that she slept with Nik, he is Lucky's brother."

"And Sarah Webber, isn't she Elizabeth's sister?" he asked then added "Or were you not aware that he had slept with Elizabeth's sister?"

Lulu's jaw snapped shut, "Now, Ms. Spencer, you said that Elizabeth was a danger to her kids while seeing Morgan, that that was why your brother was attacking her in the earlier tape. Wasn't your brother involved with Sam McCall at that time, her arrest record spans fourteen states and actually has convictions on it. And you Ms. Spencer weren't you dating John Zachara at that time?"

Lulu just glared and the judge ordered her to answer. "Yes, to both questions."

"Ms Spencer… Nikolas Cassadine, he is the grandson of Mikkos and Helena, isn't he and the son of Stavros and the cousin of this Sam McCall? We are talking about the family of terrorists and your father, Luke Spencer, hasn't he had repeated run-ins with the police… And isn't he related to Jason Morgan though his wife?"

"But… I mean… Nik hates his family, and Helena is always trying to kill him and his father did as well. And he isn't close to Sam. And my dad has saved this town repeatedly and Jason doesn't get along with his family."

"Ms. Spencer, one last question, when you were a patient at Shadybrook in a room next to your mother who was there for years. You were treated with this drug, weren't you?" Now that he had her on the ropes, the AG went for the question he really needed her to lie to.

Reading the name, she said "I don't know?"

"Weren't you hallucinating that your mother was visiting you? Didn't you tell your family about it?"

Lulu lied and said "No, I didn't."

Looking at her with pity, Mitch said "Ms. Spencer, we have a record of you discussing this with former DA Alexis Davis after the Zachara trial. Your father and brother were both there."

Lulu wanted to protest but saw the look on the judge's face as he told her to step down but not to leave the gallery.

When Lainey was called, the AG stood and said "Your honor, I was going through my file and can't find a release for giving her permission to discuss Ms. Webber's mental health or is she here to discuss Mr. Spencers, if he was going for an insanity defense or an affirmative defense based on diminished capacity, he is required to be interviewed by our doctor."

The defense attorney growled, he had hoped to be able to get Elizabeth's mental state on record then have Dr. Winters discuss Lucky's past problems.

"I think we move on to your next witness." Said the judge before telling them to continue. Lucky only had six witnesses, one who didn't show up and two who was nullified by the judge before Alexis Davis was called to stand.

Lucky's attorney sent her soft balls, mainly on his job, her connections to his family and then her representing him in his divorce. She hadn't wanted to testify, she should be home dealing with her young daughters who were not talking to each other or her and had made it clear she wasn't going to help Lucky.

"Defense is done with this witness." He had tried to make it look like Elizabeth Webber's bad choices had led Lucky to doing what he had done, but he knew that there was little chance of his client not facing at least some jail time.

"Ms. Davis, you have three daughters don't you?" asked Mitch.

Saying yes, she was asked to give their names and fathers names. "Molly; Ric Lansing."

"That would be Elizabeth Webber's first husband, correct?" he asked.

She said yes, and then stated "Kristina Corinthos, Michael Corinthos, Jr.

"Ms. Davis, did you tell Sonny Corinthos that he was your youngest daughter's father right away?"

"No, I didn't."

"In fact you didn't tell him until your daughter almost died, did you? Did he call you a bitch or a whore? Threaten you publicly or privately at any point?"

"No, I didn't and he didn't."

"What about your remaining child?"

"Sam McCall, 32, her father is dead."

"Fine, Ms. Davis, when you were dealing with having cancer and you saw your daughter sleeping with your husband in the house you owned did you verbally harass her at her job? Out in public?"

"Of course not, you deal with that sort of stuff privately." She said embarrassed yet again by Sam's behavior.

"Exactly, so what is your opinion as a member of the law community, as a woman who had someone they love cheat on you? Would you have done what Mr. Spencer did, would any reasonable person?"

"No." she said then looking at Lucky added. "But Lucky has long been obsessed with keeping Elizabeth Webber and Jason Morgan apart. It is why he was so willing to keep the secret about Jake's paternity silent. To have a way to twist the knife to Morgan, because Morgan needed his help with Jake."

"Your honor, I want to strike what this witness said from the record. She …"

"She was asked in her opinion." He reminded the man. "Tomorrow morning, be ready to give your final statements. Ms Spencer, the bailiff is placing you under arrest for perjury."

Lulu was pissed, and snarked "I guess only Saint Elizabeth gets a free pass for lying on the stand."

The judge was getting ready to leave but stopped and told the bailiff to bring the prisoner to his office. Once there he looked at her and said "Young lady, your mouth is going to get you in a lot of trouble if you don't learn to shut it. Do you have proof that Ms. Webber lied, I mean proof that can be shown in court?"

Shaking her head no, she was told to appear in front of him in a week. "I will be assigning you community service at that time."

Sam was waiting at the barracks when they brought Lucky back. Sitting across from him, she said "How is it going?"

"Fine, I am not worried." He replied. "What is going on with Alexis, she was a bitch on the stand."

"Oh, she is all up in arms because some reporter apparently did some article about my past." She said rolling her eyes. "Like anyone cares, I mean, seriously… you would think Monica Quartermaine has better things to do with her time."

"Monica, what does she have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Oh, she is on this kick that once Jason learns the truth, he will kick me out of his life. He knows the truth and still took me back." She said never seeing Lucky twitch as he realized she didn't know the truth.

"Monica isn't someone you want as an enemy." He told her. "She did damage to my Grandmother Leslie's marriage repeatedly years ago. Plus you never saw her when she was pissed at Alan."

"Like I am worried, please, Carly is finally gone out of Jason and my lives, so his mother is no threat." Just like Elizabeth, she thought. "I have to go; Spinelli called and needs to see me."

In the next booth, she talked to her business partner who asked "Sam, how did you end up in my bed, last thing I remember was Maxie helping me in the shower, we had sex then she put me to bed."

Sam wasn't thrilled with that, she had given him the best night of his life and he didn't recall it was her. Then her brain reminded her that at least this way he would be confessing to Jason anytime soon.

"Don't worry, I must have slept walked in after hearing her leave." She said then added. "I am sure that I can get Max to keep it quiet."

"Where is Diane, she hadn't been around to see me." He whined.

"I don't know." She said then went to call Sonny. "Why is Spinelli still in jail?"

"I don't know, I couldn't reach Diane, so I left a message on her machine." He replied then went to have Max take him to her office. Arriving Sonny saw it was closed then said "Let's go to her house."

When the red head opened the door she said "If you are going to try to talk me out of it, save your breath. I meant what I wrote. I resigned as the attorney for Corinthos/Morgan and have returned the unused portion of your retainer."

"You can't quit." He protested. "Who do you think you are?"

"A woman who won't work for a man who is screwing the woman who hurt his child while he hypocritically and hypothetically goes after Claudia who at least wasn't intentionally trying to harm Michael."

"So, Jake wasn't hurt and Sam made a mistake." Replied Sonny as Max winced.

"No, see the only difference I see is that Morgan will do more to protect you family than his own flesh and blood and frankly that makes my skin crawl. This sick and pathetic mess that Carly, Jason and you have going on, I want no part of it. Jason Morgan talks big about how he is too dangerous to be around his own kid, yet hangs out with Alexis' girls, your boys and is godfather to Jocelyn Jacks."

"We are his family; of course he is around us." Sonny said glaring at her.

"No, you aren't. Jake is his family, the Quartermaines are his family, you are just a man who took a confused brain damaged young man and made him your bitch. Now please leave my property before I call the police." She said to them.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 7

Elizabeth woke up and took a deep breath, then another one. Looking out the window, she listlessly wondered what day it was. She knew that they were working on getting the drugs from Shadybrook out of her system, but she wasn't sure she wanted them out.

They had allowed her to push back the pain, the anger and the outright rage down. The pain that had led to her sleeping with Nik and Lucky when truthfully neither were the man she wanted, the anger that made her want to lash out and hurt him.

Elizabeth had forgiven a lot over the years, for all the men who had been in her life, starting with her father, then Lucky and Ric but Jason's betrayals; those were the ones that hurt the deepest.

Her rage at herself was the part she knew she had to get under control; she felt the constant need to mentally berate herself for getting to the point where she had actually considered suicide an option. That she had fallen to such depths astounded her.

Hearing the sound of a helicopter, she got out of the bed to see it flying in from the north, then fly over head. She knew it was landing on the other side of the house, but she truly didn't care who was on it. There was no one she wanted or needed to see.

She had Gail, Aunt Annie, who she had been very happy to meet, her grams and her boys as well as the baby she was carrying. She was considering not going back to Port Charles, just using the payoff money from the man she refused to think about and just disappear.

Jason was wandering around, knowing he should let Sonny know he was alive, but apathy was a wonderful thing. He had no urge to let his boss know he was home; he had no reason to let the kid know he was back until he had heard about Elizabeth. As for the woman he was with, she was just that, someone he had around for when he needed sex or an ego boost.

At one point, she had meant something to him, but finding her with Spinelli; it had made him realize why he had gotten back with her. Because she was nothing, she didn't matter except for what she could do for him. Snorting as he realized how alike he was becoming to his boss, Jason saw the Overlook then turned and walked away.

**_She_** had chosen the loser again, was going the extra mile to get back together with him and having another man's child. He had tried so hard to let her go, to let the pain become buried again, but it wouldn't work. First that bastard Spencer couldn't stop telling him what was going on in her life, and then everyone else felt the need to run to him, to run her down.

But he hadn't cared, he just listened, hoping that what was going on would kill this love he had for her. This never-ending soul sucking pain that he wanted to go away, seeing the small family at the park, he wanted to cry for what he would never have…

A life with the woman he loved, she reserved all her love for another man, the man she had claimed to be over, yet as soon as they had ended, she had been right back with him. Jason was so tired of living his life in the shadow of Lucky Spencer.

Ducking behind a tree when he saw the Davis girls, he got an earful as Molly defended Sam and claimed the newspaper was lying when it had… His heart stopped as he realized what they were talking about. Had Jake's true parentage been revealed along with what had happened?

Seeing the time, he went to meet his contact. "What do you have?"

"Nothing." He replied. "There is nothing."

"There has to be something, how is that possible?" he snapped feeling emotion for the first time in days.

"I am sorry, but I can't find anything and neither can the police and that man you had me check on, he is still in town." Said the dark skinned man. Roy looked at Jason then snapped "If you had bothered protecting your family better, you wouldn't be in this mess. I am not here for you, I am helping because I want her found and you have NO ONE ELSE TO HELP."

Jason calmed down and said quietly "I know, what about Lucky?"

"He is going to prison. His father hasn't been in court once, something to look into if you ask me." Roy left to make a visit and saw Sonny steaming as he paced back and forth in the office. "Corinthos, we need to talk about the shipments. It is creating problems with our distributors."

"DeLuca, I don't have time to deal with that. Have you seen this?"

Roy watched as he showed him Jason on camera claiming that someone named Spinelli killed Ge-georgie Jones. Felicia's daughter?

Leaving he went back to the blond and slugged him. "You covered up the murder of Georgie Jones, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"What are you talking about? Diego Alcazar killed Georgie and my sister along with Leticia." He said only for Roy to show him the streaming video.

"Look, I have no idea what was going on there. I was on my way to a meeting in Chili, was grabbed and flown to what I think was a desert but I have no idea which one. I lost some time; they sent a doctor to help me, whoever 'they' are."

"What was he helping you with?" asked Roy.

"I was having blinding headaches and a few other problems." He said lamely not wanting to get into his problems before he left. "My headaches are now manageable, I woke up in the garage of Harborview Towers with no idea how I got there."

"Things aren't adding up. Things that were kept quiet are now public and then this idea that Spinelli killed Georgie… that makes no sense. I guess I had better go get that straightened out. No wonder he ignored my requests for him to come see me, here I thought it was because he would be foolish enough to believe I would be angry about his sleeping with Sam."

"Wait, the woman the papers say you moved in with after she hurt Jake?" asked Roy in disgust.

"Yes, her." He snapped then said "They are wrong, we are only sleeping together, nothing more."

"Like that makes a difference." Snapped the curly haired man. "I don't want to hear anymore or I will go off and find the Webber family by myself and help her leave this town. You, what happened to the Jason Morgan I knew years ago."

"That seems to be the question of the week." He said with a sigh. "Look, just track down Spencer and find out what he knows."

Kelly Lee was sitting on the veranda and cooling her heels as she wondered why she had been sent here. Turning she was shocked to see Audrey Hardy glaring at her. "Mrs. Hardy, what is it?"

"I was hoping you could explain a few things to me. The first being since when is it hospital protocol to give information about a patient in front of others, without her permission like you did when you informed Elizabeth she was pregnant with both Lucky and Nik there. It's not like you weren't aware of the gossip at the time."

Flushing the nurse mumbled "Cassadine made it clear he wanted to know the results and wasn't leave, no offense Mrs., Hardy, but I didn't want to lose my job."

"You wouldn't have, you and I both know that federal laws would have protected you." She reminded the ebony haired woman.

"Right, like that protected Dr. Julian that was fired last year. He was let go after refusing to give Nik some information on a heart attack patient last year."

Sitting down, Audrey listened to what she had to say about the heart patient then called Gail out. When the doctor heard the name of the patient and what had happened with Elizabeth, she looked at Audrey who nodded for her to continue before asking Kelly Lee if she had stayed with the sample the entire time.

"NO, I dropped it off then returned to check on my patient." She said a bit confused. "What is going on?"

Taking out the sample and the results from the private lab, Gail asked her to read the tests. "Well, whoever this isn't pregnant that much is true but there are elevated hormone levels and what is this?"

Seeing her pointing at the spike that was the result of the drugs, Gail said "Hallucinogens and a combination of drugs used to combat prostrate cancer and one that stops your period."

"Why would someone be given these to anyone?" she asked.

"To simulate being pregnant. The prostate drugs would bloat the stomach, make other things sensitive and you can guess what the others would do."

"Who and why… oh my god, this is Elizabeth, these results are from Elizabeth?" she asked.

"Yes, they are. Right now my granddaughter is coming down off quite a cocktail of drugs, given to her by what looks like two different men." She stated looking at Gail who tensed before Audrey added. "When she is clear of them, she is going to be despondent and more than likely she is going to hate herself for what has been going on. That is going to make finding out the baby she thinks she is carrying doesn't actually exist much harder to deal with."

Gail wasn't so sure on that, she thought it might actually make it easier but there would be guilt for not wanting the baby but she wasn't letting Audrey know what was being discussed in the treatment room that was between her patient and her.

Roy saw Luke drowning himself in a bottle of bourbon and looking at a painting he was certain he knew until he walked around to the other side and said "Is that what I think it is?"

"Van Gogh's Starry Night. I found it in my club covered and in the place of my lovely painting of Helena. Corinthos bought it at auction a couple of weeks ago. I think my son stole it." He said with a sad chuckle.

"Lucky?" he asked his doubt coming through even if he didn't think Luke knew that it came from the kid's lack of ability to carry something like this off.

"No, my son with Holly, wait you haven't been around, you don't know, do you? Ethan Lovett, Aussie con artist." He said with a bitter chuckle, "He is everything I ever wanted my cowboy to be."

Roy sat down not saying a word, something was going on here and Luke was the key. The man in front of him was broken and something had done it in such a way that it was eating him alive.

"Yup, my cowboy. You won't believe what Helena did to him. The boy who was hustling at four is little more than a shell of himself. He is so far gone in his need to be better than Morgan he fucked up royally." Said Luke bitterly. "I can't blame Elizabeth, she tried to get away. Almost had then Nik, that bastard fucked it up for him."

"How?" asked Roy.

"By being an ever bigger bastard than his father or grandfather ever dreamed of and this time, this time I am too old, too useless to take on the Cassadine scourge. There is no one left to stop him and innocents are getting hurt and me, I am sitting here drinking myself to numbness."

"Helena is helping Nik?" he asked "How is Elizabeth involved?"

"My boy…" Luke gathered courage and looked at the man in front of him, one coward to another and said "Lucky has been drugging Elizabeth, using drugs to keep her away from that bastard Morgan."

With a bitter chuckle he continued. "It backfired though; he didn't realize his brother seems to have his own plan. Nik has long wanted Elizabeth, but he couldn't get her. Thanks to Lucky, he did get her body, but her heart, no, he didn't have that. Now she is gone and I have no way of getting my cowboy out of the mess he has created in his need to win, to prove he is the bigger man."

Jason was about to enter the police station when he saw Ethan talking to Johnny Zachara in the shadows. Moving closer he listened in.

"They have the nerd at the state police barracks; do you have another computer expert we can use?"

"No, but if I am right and this connects to the missing woman and her kids…" he said pissed off. "I have to know who has those cards; our partner got no place because they aren't in the system any longer."

"Take the disk to Scorpio." Suggested Ethan.

"He will arrest me in a minute, those men on the tape, they belong to the Zachara organization." He admitted. "I don't recall if they stayed with Corinthos or not but I doubt he would grab Elizabeth and her boys."

"Why not? With all that has come out…"

"Because whoever took her out of Shadybrook either did it to help her or hurt her. With the kids being grabbed along with granny, I think that part was done to control her."

Ethan said "Elizabeth would do anything for her kids; why else would she have tried to get back with Lucky so hard. She didn't love him, but for some reason seemed to think he was the only father for them."

"Then why get involved with Cassadine?" he asked skeptically.

"I said her head was telling her to get back with him, her heart was shattered by that bastard Morgan getting together with the woman who hurt his son. Man, how can someone call themselves a man after knowingly screwing the woman who hurt your kid?"

"You can't." sneered Johnny. "And for Sam McCall, please she isn't even trash. More like medical waste that needs burnt."

Jason didn't care what they thought or said about him as he followed them; they seemed to be his only led to what had happened to Elizabeth and her family.

"When do you want to retrieve the painting?" asked Ethan. "He moved it to the Haunted Star and is sleeping there."

"We should do that tonight since all we learned from the other painting was that Helena was connected distantly to Karpov. I don't get it; this Andre was a servant for her yet his son became head of the Russian mob?"

Jason wasn't sure why, but he truly doubted that Helena was involved in this as he left them when Roy joined him. "I want to check on something involving the Zacharas."

Arriving at Crimson Point, Jason broke in and went to hide in the study only to realize that Johnny and Ethan hadn't been there in a while if the dust was any indication. Searching the desk, he saw the name Ric Lansing circled in red and froze. The last time a pregnant woman had gone missing, she had been locked in a room by him.

Calling the number for Roy, he said "Track down Ric Lansing, last I heard he was moving to LA. Find him and trail him."

"What about what I found out in regards to Nik and his brother."

"As much as I hate to say it, neither one would kidnap Audrey Hardy and the boys." He said before adding. "Ric on the other hand could convince Audrey he was trying to help Elizabeth and get away with it since he is on the other side of the country."

A bit frustrated because he was certain that Cassadine was more involved than Jason was willing to believe, Roy went to the airport and then called in a few favors while Jason went to check out the various places Ric had lived.

Frisco was getting frustrated, Lucky's attorney seemed to be determined to talk all day in an attempt to keep his client out of jail and had spent the last hour tearing apart Elizabeth Webber's reputation while white washing everything that had come out about his less than stellar client.

When the judge realized the man was finally done, he said he would be back that afternoon with his verdict. Watching as Sam McCall slipped out of the back of the courtroom, he followed the woman he was certain knew more than she was telling.

When he saw her arriving at the Corinthos estate, he left knowing he would get nothing from there. Returning to try and find out from Damien Spinelli where his daughter was, he saw an attorney talking to the kid.

"Public defender, no, I don't need you. The stalwart lady of Justice, Diane Miller is my lawyer." He said protesting the man's comments. When he had sent the cheat suited man away, Spinelli was led back to his cell while Frisco chased down the lawyer.

"What happened with the kid?" he asked flashing his badge.

The man looked at him then said "Since I am not his lawyer, I guess I can tell you. Diane Miller said she isn't his attorney, he keeps claiming she is. Now on file, she has represented him before but since she is now working for ELQ, I can see where she might consider it a conflict of interest."

Frisco hid his grin before leaving. He only wished that Mitch Williams hadn't used his late daughter as a reason for the isolation, but so far it was working to keep McCall from getting his help.

Carly was in her office reading the morning paper when she saw the article. "No way in hell."

Standing, she made a call and asked the woman on the other end. "What is going on?"

Alexis stared at her phone while ignoring the shouting going on in her kitchen between her two daughters and said "What are you talking about."

"Diane Miller working for ELQ, what the hell happened?" she snapped.

"Why don't you ask you good pal Jason Morgan, I don't have time for this." She said hanging up her phone and returning to the fray. "Would you two calm down? Molly; enough of this."

"No, she is being mean to me." Pouted the little girl. "Tell her to stop telling all those lies about Sam, Mommy. You know that stuff isn't true. Tell Krissy, Mom; tell her that Sam wouldn't do that. That she didn't sleep with my dad and that Jason would never have a child with that horrible man stealer Elizabeth Webber. She is a scarlet woman, just ask anyone."

"Yeah, Mom, tell me to my face that Sam didn't sleep with Ric that she didn't arrange for two men to threaten Jason's kid in the park or watch him get kidnapped. Tell me how Elizabeth Webber is a scarlet woman for sleeping with two brother, please have the nerve to tell me that." She mocked.

Kristina had been having a bad couple of weeks at school and had told her classmates they were wrong about her sister only to have it shoved in her face by her rival for valedictorian the articles she had located from Jason's trial in her face as well as the custody battle for Michael and Morgan, the bitch had even found articles on the internet about Sam.

"Tell us how Sam would never do what Elizabeth did by sleeping with two brothers, tell us how she would never hurt a child, how she is Jason's star crossed angel, yes mother, please tell us the truth."

Alexis glared at her eldest than pulled her out of the room. "Enough, your sister is too young to know this stuff."

"That's just it, mother, EVERYONE KNOWS, Molly should as well. After the way you kept it from me and how I was just publicly humiliated… let's keep even more secrets. I never thought that having Sonny Corinthos, godfather would be the least embarrassing part of my life." She sneered as she went out the door slamming it behind her just as Sam pulled up.

"Hello, Krissy, do you want to go and get some lunch?" she asked since she needed her sister's help after Sonny had kicked her out of the house.

"With you?" she asked then when Sam had smiled brightly and said "of course."

"Not in this lifetime." She scoffed. "I don't want to lose what little shreds of dignity and reputation I have left. I can't believe you. I read what you said to the reporter, how you blamed all your behavior on your dead baby. Please, as if using a live baby to hurt someone isn't enough, you blame it on your dead daughter. Oh, and for your 411, Jason Morgan wasn't her father, my dad was."

With that Kristina rolled her eyes at Sam and went to her car.

Alexis was talking to Molly, helping to wipe her tears away as they left for school just in time to hear something that chilled her to the bone.

Sam walked over and grabbed Krissy's arm and yelled. "Oh please, don't take that tone with me, you owe me. If it wasn't for me and my dead daughter with Sonny, you would be in a coffin with worms where your eyeballs are. You should be thanking me."

Krissy saw her mother out of the corner of her eye and smirked at Sam. "Oh, you're right, thank you Sam for spreading your legs and screwing my dad without protection. Thank you for not aborting my sister like you had planned until Jason Morgan offered you money to keep me. Should I also thank you for having sex with my stepfather Ric, thereby destroying my mother's marriage?"

Alexis and Molly were frozen as the two girls shouted at one another. Sam spat out "He deserved it, he was acting like he was holy than thou, same with Alexis. They were the reason Jason dumped me. They were the reason he went to that bitch Elizabeth and got her pregnant with the baby that should have been mine."

"Is that why you did what you did?"

"You bet you it is. She stole my child, she knew Jason was mine, I decided I wanted him and worked hard to get him. I earned Jason and no plain looking tramp with no breasts was going to steal him from me. Her and that brat shouldn't have made it through labor but fertile Myrtle didn't have the good sense to die. Jason and I could have raised Jake like I plan to do now."

"How are you planning on doing that, Jason won't take his kid away from his mother, least of all for you."

"Jason will do what I want, he took me back after everything, after threatening to kill me for hurting Jake, I know that when he returns he will do what I want, after all I give him exactly what he wants." She said smirking. "Elizabeth can stay with poor sad pathetic Lucky, that's who she should have been with all along."

"There are no word…" said Krissy then with a shake of her head as she got into her car. "Sam. Jason was the one who made promises to you, not Elizabeth. And that kid is an innocent and this delusion you have of playing Mommy to it is what is sad and pathetic. And not even Jason Morgan can think you would be a good mother."

"Yes, he does, he told me so." She said with a smug grin.

"Really, well I guess he really is brain damaged like they say." Retorted Kristina as she backed out then called out to her mother, "Bye, Mom. See you this evening."

Carly was not a happy camper when she was refused entrance to the high rise office building. When she refused to leave without talking to Diane Miller, Mac was called.

The police commissioner arrived a bit later and said "Carly, you can't stay here."

"I am a share holder, you bet your rear I can stay here."

"Actually you can't." he said taking out his hand cuffs. Carly just shrugged and said "Cuff me."

When Jax got the call, he waited until lunch time to go and bail out his wife. "Proud of yourself, dear?"

"She went to work for ELQ?" she raved. "I mean, seriously, we would have hired her, anyone would have, but ELQ?"

His mouth twitching as he hid his smile, Jax said "If you had bothered checking your e-mail, you would have seen a note from Diane asking you to meet her for lunch. That she wanted to talk to you about her career move, instead you acted like a child and made a fool of yourself over nothing."

"Where?" she snapped. "Where am I supposed to meet her?"

"At our house." He said. "I took Jocelyn over to your mother's and the boys are in school."

Carly drove home, her anger at her attorney going to work for ELQ growing as she walked into her own house and found Diane in her kitchen checking on something in the oven.

"Carly, angel hair or penne noodles?"

"I don't care." She said tossing down her purse like it was a gauntlet. "What is going on here?"

"We are going to have a civilized lunch, then discuss what we agree on, then I am going to tell you why it happened then I will explain ELQ, but until then why don't you use your brain for once and think while we eat." She said firmly.

Carly gritted her teeth and got out plates and soda before helping herself to some food. She watched the clock while they ate then as soon as the dishwasher was loaded said "Well?"

Diane leaned against the machine and looked at the blond. "I heard you are angry with Jason, disowned him for what is going on with Jake."

"You heard right, but how does that explain you going to work for ELQ?"

"Patience." She said with a smile. "As I was saying… why weren't you angry with him for the other stuff he has done. Walking away from Elizabeth and his son? For not telling everyone to butt out of his life?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "I am angry for him not telling Sam to butt out."

"No." she said emphasizing, "I mean everyone else that feels the need to interfere in Jason's life, to tell him what to do?"

"No one else does that, except maybe that kid Spinelli but he is more like a bug that needs swatted." She replied.

"Really, no one else in his life feels the need to tell Jason how to live his life?" she said. "What about this… why didn't anyone point out to Jason that the danger was still going to be there whether or not he was with the family he loved."

"That is why we have guards." She said still not getting what this had to do with anything.

"Not everyone he loved had guards, not his family." She said.

"The Quartermaines would have had a conniption." She scoffed.

"Carly, if Jason had decided to leave town last year after Michael had gotten shot with Elizabeth and the boys, how would you have reacted?" she asked.

"Jason would never do that to us." She said confidently. "He would never abandon us that way."

"And this is a good thing?" she asked.

"He is or was a member of our family, we needed him." She said.

Diane was trying to keep her voice calm as she asked all she had rehearsed. "What about Elizabeth? What about Jake and Cameron?"

"Okay, yes they should have been better protected, but…"

"No buts-" snapped Diane out of patience. "Carly, you are pissed at Jason for getting back with Sam, but frankly you and Sonny have done worse and still seem to feel he should be at your beck and call, why shouldn't she feel the same?"

"You are defending Sam?" she asked in disbelief. "After what she did to Jake?"

"What about you Carly? What about your running to Jason saying Jake wasn't his on the flimsy evidence that Elizabeth was still working so it must be Lucky's kid? What about you harassing Elizabeth every single time she turned around? What about you calling her sons bastards and saying you will help Jason raise Jake after taking him away from her?"

"That's..."

"Different? Why? Because in Sam's mind, it's the same thing, you are no better than she is. You just like to wrap it up in that he is your best friend, your obsession more than likely. What is it? You still want Jason, did you settle for Sonny and Jax?"

"No, of course not and I am well; was his best friend."

"No, Carly, you are his biggest enabler and frankly you are his biggest user and since that included Sam, Sonny and Spinelli, frankly that is quite a feat. I applaud you." She said clapping.

"How—"

"Truth hurt? Jason would have been married and happy by now but you and the rest of the selfish people in his life refused to accept that he loved Elizabeth, so he lost her and became this thing he is now."

"You are wrong, she couldn't handle his life." She protested.

"Carly if my husband ran at the drop of a hat for another woman who can't wipe her own ass without calling him, I would be pissed. If my husband's boss expected him to take care of his kids, his girl friends, his sister like Sonny does, I would have left him."

"That is his job." She said.

"Holding your pee stick is his job?" she mocked. "What about being the godfather to your three kids, when he isn't safe to be around his own. What kind of friend asks him after he walks away from his own kid?"

"I just wanted to…"

"Tie him to you anyway possible. Now you are reaping what you sow because the Jason Morgan he is now, you created it him. You created this monster that will go after the woman who hurt your son while having sex with the woman that hurt his. You did this then you have the nerve to say he is wrong? So since you declared he is wrong what now? What should Jason do now?"

"What? He should dump Sam that is what he should do." She snapped.

"Does that mean if he does he gets you're so-called friendship back?" she mocked. Then saw her face and said "I thought so, how very hypocritical of you because Sam is you, just a slightly more sleazy package." She said then walking to the door said "You can keep the leftovers.

Carly started to protest but Diane wasn't finished. "My working at ELQ is none of your damn business. And Carly, I am so glad I don't have to represent your lying, hypocritical, Jason obsessed, social climbing, and egotistical rear ever again."

Looking at her she said "You are pathetic, you still don't get it do you. You did this; you and Sonny did this years ago when Sonny faked his death. Well good luck with staying out of jail. Toodaaloo."

Gail looked in then asked Kelly Lee to join her and Elizabeth. "We have to talk."

"Kelly, hi." Said Elizabeth standing to hug her friend and colleague. "What are you doing here?"

"Elizabeth, we have to talk." She said. "Have you noticed any physical changes?"

Stiffening she said "What is going on?"

Gail sat down and said "The drugs, as they are dissipating, have you noticed any changes?"

"I don't feel as bloated, wait…" she asked her eyes tearing up. "Is there something wrong with my baby? Did being on these drugs hurt the baby?"

"Elizabeth, we ran some tests and the drugs did affect your body but they won't harm a baby." She said lying as she looked at Gail.

"What Kelly is trying to tell you my dear… Elizabeth, you were never pregnant."

Falling back, Elizabeth was reeling as she looked at her belly then said "I have a baby bump, I haven't had my period and have been ill."

"From drugs. Elizabeth, you have been taking these drugs a lot longer than you were aware. Those drugs you were given after the fire at GH, they were hallucinogens."

"What? No, they were for my respiratory problem, Lucky was there when they were given to me."

"We know." She said then left it for now. "Elizabeth about two and half months ago, you were given prostate cancer drugs, the side affects of the hormones in the drugs mimic pregnancy and then you were given a drug they give to the female astronauts to stop their period while living on Mir."

"Why? Why would someone do that to me?" she asked as she stood and paced.

"Elizabeth, Nik threatened me. He said if I didn't let Lucky and he be in the room when I gave you the results I would be fired. Two days afterwords, the lab tech that ran your results disappeared."

"Why would Nik do this to me?" she whispered as she tried to wrap her mind around what they were saying. "I mean, why?"

As she started to cry, Kelly left the room then got on the helicopter to leave wishing she hadn't run the damn tests… like Gail and she had figured out, it was Nik in the first place who had suggested she was pregnant. The idea that the Russian had been that calculating scared her; as she landed in Charleston SC to catch a return flight to Port Charles and her job.

Back in town, Jason listened to what Roy had to say and replied "I am driving up now."

He had been at the lakehouse during the argument between the Davis girls and he was trying to wrap his mind around what he had heard. His head had hurt and popped his migraine medicine as he drove up to deal with Ric the bastard.

Franco laughed as Jerry confirmed that Sam had shown her true self to her sisters. Jerry then said "Morgan for some reason is chasing after Lansing."

"Do you think he has her?"

"I looked already. The wonder twins of Zachara and Lovett almost got close to our hidden eggs, and with Spinelli in jail no one is going to find our little Easter egg on the Internet. I think we need to send it to the papers, make Cassadine a little nervous.

"No, let's wait until we locate the Webber girl and her kids. We need the chessboard to be full for this to work."

"Then bang bang, out goes Morgan." He said laughing while walking away. He never saw Franco's eyes narrowing as he said "And I take out the centerpiece of my greatest piece of work.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 8

When Jason pulled up outside the house on Martha's Vineyard, he was surprised to see a woman with a baby boy. "Hello?"

Looking up Marianna pretended to be surprised "Mr. Morgan, right? Coffee black and a number seven?"

Looking at her, he said "You used to work at Kelly's."

Standing up, she said "Yes, Ric helped me get away from his father but I was having immigration issues thanks to Trevor. I went to Los Angeles where I could make a fresh start."

"Wh-how did you end up here?" he asked then saw Ric coming out the door and looking at him. "Where is Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth Webber?" asked Marianna, "How is she and her dear sweet little boys. I liked her when I lived in town; she was so nice to everyone, even that blond woman who would be so mean to her. Do you know her?"

Ric went into Port Charles mode and sneered. "Marianna has no idea that the woman who called Elizabeth's sons bastards is your best friend, Morgan. And why are you asking for Elizabeth, here? Didn't you turn her against me, already?"

"You did that Lansing, with your lies, your manipulation, and the way you treated her at my trial." He sneered.

"You are a good one to talk, you and Sam. How can you live with yourself screwing the woman who hurt your son? And you act like I am the bad guy, taken a look in the mirror lately?" he scoffed then said "Wherever Elizabeth is, I hope she is free of you."

"The boys are missing as well Lansing, and at about the same time you spent a lot of money in a child's clothing store and to stock up this place." He snapped back at the man.

Ric waved his hand around and said "Did you missing seeing my wife, my son? Did you forget that Molly is my daughter? Or can't you see past the saggy bags Sam calls breasts?"

"Leave Sam out of this, where is Elizabeth?" he growled.

"Sam, out of this? Not likely, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe just maybe she is the one who knows where Elizabeth is? I mean, she did watch as her son was kidnapped, then I heard about the two gunmen in the park, but you know all about that don't you? How do you manage to push it out of your mind when you are having sex,, seriously, are you that cold that it doesn't bother you what she did to your kid? Or is it that it's not one of Crazy Carly's kids so it's fine to have sex with her. I wonder how Elizabeth felt seeing you two together; knowing that you knew what Sam did to her son?"

Jason flinched, and then said "You know nothing about it."

"You can say that again, strangely enough, even as depraved as my father was, at least he hated the person who hurt those he loved. How do you live with yourself Jason, tell me, because honestly, after Courtney, to do this to her again, yet to claim you love her?"

Jason just walked away, his head hurt and he wasn't in the mood to trade barbs with Ric Lansing as he realized that Lansing wasn't a likely candidate to grab Elizabeth and her boys. As he pushed down Lansing's comments about Elizabeth and how she would have felt about his seeing Sam, he got into his car and called Roy.

"I told you so." He clipped out. "We wasted a day chasing after Lansing because you wanted it to be him, you can't let go of what he did to Carly. Why don't you try concentrating on Elizabeth for once, can you do that?"

Jason snapped the phone closed sick of people riding him about Elizabeth? What about what she had done to him? What about her never returning his calls, what about her sending him that e-mail saying she would appreciate it if he stayed away like they had agreed, what about her…" pulling off to the side of the road, Jason fought his tears then after gaining control, drove back through the night to Port Charles.

Arriving he was lax in protecting his identity and heard Max calling out his name as he pulled up at the Overlook. "Morgan, thank god, Sonny has been looking for you?"

"Have there been any word on Elizabeth and her boys?" he asked urgently thinking that maybe the guard knew something.

"Elizabeth and her boys? Miss Webber, is missing?" he asked then said "No, look, Sonny needs you to come to his place right away, you have to go to the cops and get Spinelli out."

"I will, you go and find out from our contacts about Elizabeth, while I am doing that." He ordered then drove to Sonny's oversized house. "Sonny?"

"Where have you been?" he snapped. "Max called to let me know but you can't just take off and leave…"

"Sonny I was grabbed held for days then dumped at the Towers. I heard about Elizabeth and went looking for her."

"Let her family take care of that, we have bigger problems and they all start with that attorney of yours who betrayed us."

"Sonny, are we in danger of going to jail?" he snapped.

"No, but we have to get that geek out, right away. He is trying to locate who took 150 million dollars from my accounts and bought a painting with it."

"A painting? Why wasn't he looking for Elizabeth and the boys?"

"Like I said, let the Spencer's handle it." He said distractedly. "Now about Diane…"

"No, if we aren't in immediate danger of going to jail, I am going to call Max and find out what he got from our contacts about Elizabeth. She is missing, Sonny."

"I heard you the first time. And I thought you were finally done with that mess and her. She can't last in this life and you need to realize that when she is around, you can't keep your head on straight. I am glad you're back, but seriously Jason, she walked away and you need to let it go."

Jason felt the rage building up and tried to calm down but it wasn't working and then Sonny said "Besides, I told Max to take care of that later, a day or two isn't going to matter right now."

"Just what is Max doing?" said Jason in a dangerously low tone of voice.

"He is tracking down Dante for me, he slipped out from the guard I had on him so I would know what he is doing since he won't tell me."

"So you pulled Max off of trying to locate Elizabeth and her two young sons to track down a grown man who is capable of taking care of himself, a man who loathes you?"

"Don't say that, he is my son, he will come around. And yes, Dante is more important than Elizabeth Webber. She is probably off someplace hiding from Cassadine; I heard he was the father of her kid and that she told him to stay away?"

Jason just walked away and was about to open the door when it opened on its own and Sam came though it. "JASON!"

Walking to her, he said "We have nothing to talk about, I am busy right now."

"Look, I know that how it looked like, but Max only saw me sleeping with Spinelli, we didn't have sex, I promise."

She said only for Jason to look at her and say "I hadn't talked to Max, I didn't know he had found you with Spinelli, but Sam, I don't' give a crap who you sleep with, it's not like we are in an exclusive relationship."

Sam flinched then said "But you told me you loved me."

"I do, kind of like I love cold beer and good pizza." He replied as he found his head starting to pound like a sledgehammer. "You are there, you have sex with me when I want, you do what I ask and don't try to make me into a better person, I mean, you are like a dog, I feed you, I pet you, and I give you attention and take you for rides. I would mourn your loss but in the end, I can just go down to the pound and get another one."

"Is this about Carly, did she tell you to dump me? How can you treat me this way?" she whimpered. "After all I have done for you?"

Looking at her, Jason wanted to scream as the pain in his head was now at maximum capacity, he sighed and said "Sam, what did you think was going to happen? I would marry you and we would spend the rest of our lives chasing after Sonny's and Carly's kids. We would be eighty and still wearing leather while carrying guns?"

"But I thought we could start a family, I mean you told me I would be a good mother." She said.

"Was I trying to get laid at the time?" he said as he started to see blackness.

"Don't do this, I know I hurt you, but please, Jason… don't walk away from me again, I don't know that I can take it if you leave me?"

Jason wanted to lean as he saw the shining spots in front of his eyes and he went to reach for his pills but groaned when he noticed they were gone. As Sam kept talking, Jason finally said "I have to go."

"JASON!" she cried out as the door slammed in her face. When she got outside, she looked around then murmured "How could he disappear so quickly?"

Shutting the door, she went back inside and asked "What happened? Where did Jason go?"

"To get Spinelli free like I told him." Said Sonny as he sat down and poured him a drink. "Go away, Sam. I am busy right now and Jason is going to be busy dealing with this banking issue."

"I can help." She said eagerly.

"If you want to help, you can go to the warehouse and pick us up some coffee, we ran out last night and I haven't had time to send one of the guards." He said then went back to reading his newspaper. Looking up to see her standing there, he said "You can go now."

Milo was rounding the house when he saw Jason lying on the ground, as he went to call out for help; Jason reached up and said "Don't call anyone, just get me to my safe house."

As he passed out, Milo had no idea what safe house he was talking about until he remembered Max taking him to check on a safe house in the middle of nowhere. Deciding that was the one, he heaved up the man into the back seat of his truck and drove as quickly as he could.

Arriving, he picked the lock and carried him in before dumping him on the sofa. Seeing Jason holding his head, Milo went to the bathroom hoping for a stray bottle of aspirin or even a cold compress only to find a fully stocked medical kit. Opening it up, he took out the bottle and forced two down Jason's throat.

An hour later, he was getting ready to call Doc as Jason had woken up and started to heave everything he had ever ate in his life. He threatened to shoot the guard when he had wanted to get help.

"No, no help. I will tell you what to do, but no one else is to come here. Not even Max." he said before throwing up again. As he did, Jason felt the pain coming rushing forward. The need to make the pain go away was desperate as he realized that Milo had brought him to the one place he had thought he would have it all.

Gripping the sink, he stood and asked for his phone. Calling Roy he said "I have been poisoned, get me some help."

Passing out, he heard Roy calling out just as Milo returned. The guard gave him the address then went to help Jason to the bed. His boss had a violent reaction, saying no, he couldn't sleep there, that he just couldn't.

Waiting until he passed out, Milo dumped him on the bed and sat down waiting for whoever was on the phone to show up. Hearing a knock on the door, he saw a dark haired man with the head nurse of GH.

"Wouldn't a doctor have been a better choice?" he asked skeptically while Epiphany passed him then said "Where is he?"

"The bedroom." Said Milo, "That way."

Going to the bedroom, she stood over the blond man and said "You boy, you have been at the center of a lot of trouble. I should just let you die, but I think living is going to be much worse for you."

After hooking up an IV with potassium, she went through his pockets then asked DeLuca what he had been poisoned with.

"I don't know. He just called and said he had been poisoned." He said then told Milo, "Do NOT let Sonny know where he is, do you hear me?"

"Do you think Mr. C, did this?" he asked astonished.

"No, but I think someone close to the situation did. We do the smart thing, get Jason healthy then go to Sonny." Not telling him he had a good idea what was going on with the drugs. Pulling Epiphany off to the corner, he said "I did some research on the drugs talked about during the Spencer trial. Is there a way of testing his blood to see if that is what he was given?"

Nodding, Epiphany called in a favor and had the sample sent to County under an alias before starting the protocol for the drugs.

Sonny saw Max returning and asked "What took so long?"

"Dante was working a case with Scorpio; they were out in Hayes Landing. He saw me by the way, made it clear if he saw any of us, any of your guards near him, he would arrest us for interfering in a police investigation." Said the guard before heading out.

Sonny stopped him then said "Jason went to get Spinelli out, when he returns, I want you to keep an eye on him, I don't like his obsession with Elizabeth Webber, and he needs to get his priorities straight."

"Mr. C, she has been kidnapped, along with his son, of course Jason is going to look for her." He said not sure what his boss was thinking.

"He can do that afterwords, right now, he needs to be doing his job, and that is what I tell him it is." Replied Sonny as he went to read up on the painting.

"No." said Max feeling his legs shaking as they felt like they turned into Jell-O. "You are wrong."

"WHAT?" asked Sonny as he looked up at Max. "What did you just say?"

"Sonny, if this were Michael or one of your kids, one of your women, you would be beating your chest, screaming and ordering everyone to be out looking. Because it is Elizabeth you don't care?"

"She is more trouble than she is worth."

"To whom? To you? Yes, she is because when Jason is with her, he isn't miserable, he isn't at your beck and call. Well, guess what, I work for both of you and if you aren't going to help Jason look, I am."

"GET back here, I gave you an order!" yelled Sonny as Max kept going. "If you walk out that door, I will think you are with that slut you have been sleeping with, that you are in it with the Quartermaines to take this all away from me."

Turning around, Max looked at him then said "You do that, a family is missing and one that is important to Jason and this… this is your response after all he has given up for you."

"She isn't important and lets face it she spreads her legs for anything that moves." He sneered. "Jason could do better than that for himself.

"No, that would be Sam McCall, but then she spread them for you. Oh my god, is that it? Did you make an overture towards her and did she reject you? Are you jealous that it is Jason she wants?" said Max as he looked at his boss clearly for the first time. "It is, isn't it? You are jealous of Jason and her relationship… You set out to get Carly into your bed, Robin is HIV positive and we both know that she already thinks the world of you. Courtney was your sister … sick, Sonny that was why you wanted them together so that he wasn't with Elizabeth."

"Stop that, you are wrong." He said but Max could see it on his face. "Then there was Sam, no wonder you were so willing to let him help her. You could lord the baby over him. He was to be raising your daughter; you could claim her at any minute. But Jake, Jake is Jason's, just like Elizabeth. The exclusive interest of Jason Morgan and you can't stand that he has someone that doesn't want you or worship at your feet."

"How exclusive could it be, when she is sleeping with Cassadine and Spencer?"

"You just want it to be you." Said Max before walking out the door.

Jerry was gleefully watching the tape, the supposedly secure and unbreakable team of Morgan and Corinthos was falling apart and soon Sonny would be vulnerable, he laughed as one more piece on the chessboard was falling into place.

Taking a drive out the cliff roads, he pulled over to check out his favorite part of this little game, it was growing just fine. Walking back to his car, he had one more thought then made the call. "It is almost time."

"Good, release the tape. Cassadine will panic hopefully and we will be able to shoot off the start gun and put the game into play." Said Franco as he finished the next to last painting. Turning to the woman standing behind him, he said "Arrange for the pigeon to be taken back to her roost."

Looking at him, she said "You slept with her, didn't you?"

"Relax; Ms Jones has nothing on you. She was amusing but it was only a little sport." He replied then said "Do you have the tape? Send it to Scorpio."

Mac and Dante were waiting to speak to Lucky Spencer. The judge was going to render his verdict in an hour and they had an offer for the former police officer.

"Mac, thank god. Why didn't you testify on my behalf?" he asked then saw Dante with him. "If it isn't the newest member of the PC police department."

Looking at Lucky, Mac said "We have some questions about the fire at the hospital."

"What?" he asked. "Shouldn't my lawyer be here?"

"I was here as your boss but now I think we should bring him in." he said before calling in the man. "How did you get a hold of the pills?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said.

"Fine, what can you tell me about Sam McCall's whereabouts during the fire?"

"I don't know, we were over by them." He stated then as the bailiff came in and said "Judge is back from lunch early. He wants the prisoner in the courtroom now."

"Look, Mac what do I have to do to get my job back?" he asked only for Mac to laugh and say "You aren't getting your job back."

"If I am found innocent you have to give it back to me." He snarled.

"No, I don't. Because you won't be found innocent, at most it is not guilty and they aren't the same thing."

Lucky entered the courtroom and saw Lulu there along wit his father who was sitting on the other side of the room. "Lucky, we know you didn't do this." She said. Seeing Ethan, Lucky said "I am glad you are here, man. It's nice having family to back you."

He didn't say a word, Johnny and he were piecing this together and he wasn't happy to be related to this man. Turning he saw Dante entering the room with a gorgeous dark haired girl who looked familiar. "Lulu, who is that woman entering the courtroom with Dante?"

"Brooklynn Ashton, a man stealing, lying, backstabbing bitch who is Tracy's granddaughter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree there."

She sneered as he looked at the girl and said "She is pretty, though."

"Don't you dare go there." She hissed as the courtroom filled up. Seeing Sam McCall, Lulu sneered at the woman who was getting her just desserts for falsely accusing her brother. Then a few others from the police station and her Aunt Bobbie entered the courtroom and soon sat down.

"Will the defendant please stand?" asked the judge. Looking at him, he said "I have presided over a lot of trials in my day. For crimes that sound a lot worse than this. Murder is a dark and scary word, but Mr. Spencer you didn't kill anyone."

Lucky felt a sense of relief, it didn't look like this was going to be that bad.

"Rape, another ugly word." Said the judge. "I have handled those and they usually leave me feeling sick to my stomach. This case however, while the word drugged, and the word influence and the word falsifying are much easier on the digestion, they have proven in this case to be just as ugly as the minor charge of domestic violence we will be dealing with."

Luke closed his eyes. "Mr. Spencer, your ex wife isn't here to testify, she is missing. As a result we have had to use physical evidence to prove this case, without a live victim it shouldn't be as compelling as it is. You, Lucas Lorenzo Spencer Jr. are found guilty of 1st degree conspiracy in the drugging of Elizabeth Webber. I am also finding you guilty of the lesser offenses of 1st degree extortion, 2nd degree fraud, 3rd degree weapons charges, 1st degree domestic violence charges and if I could I would find you guilty of rape."

"Excuse me your honor, who did I rape?" asked Lucky. "I would never…"

"Mr. Spencer, your entire defense to some of the charges occurring from your recent forays was that your ex-wife slept with your brother. I have researched this drug we found in her system, I am aware of what it does. I would bet my house on Saranac Lake that what happened with those two, at least on her part can be traced back to those drugs."

"I didn't give her them and tell her to screw my brother, I gave them so she would sleep with me instead of still drooling over that bastard Jason Morgan." He shouted then stopped frozen as people in the courtroom gasped and one person laughed.

"I am sure you did. However Mr. Spencer, you obviously did the job as half baked as everything else in your life. If you had researched the drugs you would have realized that they suppress emotions, but they also lead to behavior that the person wouldn't normally indulge in."

"She is a whore; I mean she slept with…"

"Get your client under control, councilor." Warned the judge who said "I recall when we began this trial you wanted a fast resolution, well you are going to get it. On the conspiracy charge, I am sentencing you, Mr. Spencer to ten to fifteen years, on the domestic violence 18 months, on the gun charges 6 months and the drugs charges 18 months, with the remaining charges adding four years to your sentence."

Dante was a bit surprised with good behavior Spencer would be out in five years but then he almost swallowed his tongue in surprise when the judge said "To be served consecutively. This is following the federal guidelines FS 5K2.3 regarding emotional distress. You deliberately drugged your ex-wife to send her over the edge. FS 5K2.4, in that you unlawfully detained her with drugs. And finally FS 5K2.20 in that your repeated aberrant behavior led to these crimes."

Lucky was stunned, but he still didn't get how serious this was until the judge took off his glasses and said "Mr. Spencer, I debated whether to add this part seeing as how you seem to blame everyone else for your behavior but I wanted it on the record. If someone, just one person had stepped up and said no to you. Told you that your wants and needs weren't the be all and end all, your ex-wife and her two sons wouldn't be missing today. However no one did. It sounds like they all expect this woman to take care of you for the rest of your life."

"She was my wife, it was her job."

"Really, because I don't recall any part of the marriage vows stating that, it says that you should support one another, be there for one another, but it isn't suppose to be one sided." He snapped at the man. "You and those around you that enabled you created this mess, a mess that now that state is going to be cleaning up. Frankly Mr. Spencer, I think your father, your sister and a few others like Ms McCall should be at that table next to you, but that isn't my call that is the Attorney General's. I just wanted you to know, that I put in your file that I am to be called for every single parole hearing, every single time you are called in front of the warden, Mr. Spencer."

Mitch Williams hid his smile when the judge ordered the bailiff to take the prisoner back to his cell until his timely transfer to Attica.

"Attica?" asked the defense attorney "Sir, don't you think that a bit excessive, he is a former police officer after all."

Looking at the man, he said "No, I don't. I think Pentonville is too close and Sing-Sing is only a train ride away. I would recommend that Mr. Spencer use his time away wisely and get counseling and I want his family to have to work for it to see him. Maybe they take the time during the drive to lovely Western New York to reflect on how their own actions lead to this moment. Now Lesley Lu Spencer, I do believe we have a perjury charge to deal with."

As Lucky was led out of the courtroom protesting his sentence, the bailiff moved Lulu up to stand next to the attorney. "Your honor, here is a note from General Hospital, they are quite willing to let Ms. Spencer serve her time there as a candy striper."

"I am sure they are, do you think I was born yesterday, counselor?" asked the judge then looking at Lulu said "That isn't acceptable."

"But—"

"No, Ms. Spencer, I talk you listen." He said. "I am a firm believer in making the punishment fit the crime. When testifying you were quite happy to drag your ex-sister in law through the mud and to say she is trash, Ms. Spencer so I have decided you will be sentenced to 750 hours of roadside community service and you will be require when Ms Webber is found to appear in my courtroom along side of her and since you so like to publicly air your laundry apologize to her in front of me and those I deem need to see that."

Lulu gritted her teeth at the amount of time, but that didn't sound that bad, she could even fake it in court with Elizabeth, didn't mean she couldn't let her know what she really thought of her outside of the courtroom.

"There is also going to be a restraining order placed on you for 18 months starting from the moment Ms. Webber and her family is found. Just is case you have the urge to approach her outside of my courtroom." He said knowingly before dismissing everyone.

Turning to the judge, she said "That doesn't sound too bad. What will I be doing, holding the stop sign for construction or something?"

Snickering, Brooklynn thought about how this woman ruined her uncle and Georgie's lives and said "Try or something, trash picker."

"Please, I am a Spencer, my father was Mayor, they aren't going to have me picking up trash." She sneered only for a man to step up and say differently.

"Ms. Spencer, I am going to be supervising your community service, I would wear some old clothes, because we frequently find beer bottles with liquid in them. We will supply the orange vest and gloves along with the small breathing mask. And I will give you the sign you have to wear at that time. At the end of your shift, you return it to me so it doesn't get lost."

"Sign? Beer bottles? What are you talking about?" she asked certain this was a joke.

"While serving your time with our trash unit you are required to wear a sign that says your name, your crime and there is no exception to the rule."

Brooklynn knew that Dante had split right after the verdict and that her old pal was still hurting at being fooled by Lulu so all she did was leave quietly after that. Monica had said to give her a half hour after the verdict then she would drive her home.

Monica sat in the judge's chambers, waiting for him to come out from changing. "Monica, thank you for your insight into Lucky Spencer, it was greatly appreciated. Will Sarah and I see you at the club this weekend?"

"No, I am doing some more pruning." She said before leaving the white envelope on his desk for the Lulu Spencer verdict.

When Jason woke up, his felt on fire but his stomach had quieted down. "What are you doing here?"

Patrick stood and glared at the man. "Epiphany called me, good thing she did. Are you aware you have a clot on your brain the size of a golf ball?"

Looking up, Jason said "I don't have time for you to take it out, just give me some drugs and let me go."

"I already did." He said still glaring at Jason then said "She ran a sample of your blood, it set off a trigger at County, they contacted me and when I saw the name Jason Martin, I figured it was you."

"Why are you here?" he asked as he tried to sit up.

"Because as much as I would love to let you wallow in the pigsty you created…" he sighed as he walked over to the door, "You had help."

"What are you saying?" he asked. "What is it?"

"I called down to the pharmacy, got a migraine prescription for you. When I picked it up I realized I had seen this drug recently and that it wasn't for migraines. Mac had brought it to me, had me do some research on it."

"I thought I was getting just a strong dose of aspirin?" he said then was handed the pill bottle, opening it; he said "Yeah, these are them."

"When did you start taking them?" asked Patrick.

"After Kate Howard was shot, then after the hospital fire, they upped the dose. Last July before Claudia was hit, they did it again."

Patrick said "How many were you taking?"

"Originally just one, then in February it became three and from the beginning of July, six pills."

"How the hell are you still standing?" he asked. Then said "At least now I know why you didn't feel the clot. It was causing it. The good news is that to get better all we have to do is detoxify you and you have been doing a good job of that, the bad news is you are going to need to be isolated for twenty four hours while we do a meatball job of it."

Seeing his expression, Patrick said "I heard about Elizabeth, it is all over the news, I can't figure out how no one reported she had been gone for over a month. This is the quickest way to get you back on your feet; normally we would do something like this over a fifteen day period."

"Fast and ugly, I don't give a shit about the pain." Said Jason grimly.

"Now that sounds more like the Jason Morgan I first met." He said then told him to drink this.

"What is it?"

"The old housewives treatment for poisoning; Ipecac, fast and dirty and perfectly feasible for what you are going through." He said before heading to the door.

"In case you didn't hear, Spencer went to prison, among his other charges, he was found with a very large bag of these exact same pills and they tested a sample of Elizabeth's blood from Shadybrook, she was drugged too. The troopers found them in a prescription bottle for her respiratory problems after the fire. She has been on them all year, but then you weren't close enough to know that she had some damage she needed to recover from since you were up Sam McCall's butt all the time and ignored the mother of your son."

He saw the look in Jason's eyes then said "There is more, here, the transcript, Mac got them for Robin who was pissed she couldn't be there but we had a patient whose brain we had open. If I were Lucky Spencer, I would be very glad she can't operate on him."

Jason read the transcripts in between throwing up and felt his heart hurt as he realized what Elizabeth must have been going through. She was pregnant and that had to make things worse. When he read what happened at sentencing, he grimaced when he read Sam's name. He couldn't help wondering if she had anything to do with this. Lucky wasn't the only person who benefited from the drugs.

Elizabeth watched the storm clouds in the sky and couldn't help comparing them to her mood. "Elizabeth, how are you doing?"

Turning, she said "Annie, can you be a friend and not a nurse right now?"

"Sure, but you have to tell me as your friend how you are doing?" she said sitting down next to her. "When the boys asked about Lucky, you looked … I don't know how to describe it."

"I just realized the damage he did to my boys, the damage I allowed him to do." She said. "When Emily died, I had a chance to tell the truth, to let the world know that Jason was Jake's father, but I let Lucky convince me that … well, I let him play me."

"He did that a lot didn't he?"

"I am so gullible, Annie. I believe what people tell me, I just don't get it, as bad as things have been, I still buy into the lies." She said sadly. "I want to trust but then I end up trusting the wrong people."

"You are a good person, Elizabeth. You want to believe that others are as well." She said hugging her. "Gail said you are getting stronger, but that she is worried how quickly you are accepting what happened."

"I am angry, very, very angry. With Lucky for drugging me but I let him back in after Jason walked away. I was fine for a while but seeing him with Sam, hearing that little cretin Spinelli always raving about how well they worked together. I just wanted…"

"…to be part of something. To give your kids a dad." She said. "You need to realize that a dad isn't always necessary, I raised Phillip on my own and he is fine. He is getting married next month, to a lovely girl. They work together; my only complaint is he became a banker and not a doctor."

"I thought it was only my parents…"

"No, we all have this image of what we want our kids to be, I just have learned that it is his life and he is happy, so I am happy for him. That is what being a parent is supposed to be about." She said.

"As for Nik, I want to hurt him, he was around when I had both of my miscarriages, to do what he did to me… I just don't understand why? I mean the truth would have come out eventually, what was he trying to accomplish?"

"I can't answer that for you, but I do want to know about Jason. How do you feel about him?"

Looking at her Annie saw her face and said "I can see the rage, but what are you going to do about it?"

"First, I don't care if they say I am being vindictive, I am going after Sam McCall with all I have. I realized something earlier, the only proof about what she did, Jason has it. I have no way of getting charges pressed against her. And that kid Spinelli more than likely deleted the computerize proof. But I can make her life hell, and I am going to. Jason's too, if he tries to interfere. I want to throw the money he gave me in his face but I am not going to do that, instead I will set up college funds for the boys with it."

"Good but what about others, what about Lucky's sister and these people who feel they have the right to judge you. You tend to stand there and let them just go off on you, Elizabeth." She said as gently as possible.

"I know, I just hate to argue, I hate fighting with people, creating a scene. I can't be like that anymore, I can't let my boys be treated like that or think that it is acceptable to do it either."

"Then pick your battles and let them know that you aren't going to let them walk all over you." She said hugging Elizabeth as they heard the boys hollering as they ran to join them. Jake hugged his mommy while Cam rubbed his head. "Cam what happened to your hair?"

"Gram-grams said I had to have it cut." He said while grinning at his mommy. "I blew a really big bubble with my gum."

Audrey was walking down giving herself a mental reminder to thank Ric Lansing for that bag of gumballs, she wasn't sure why he had put it in there but she wasn't happy.

Johnny and Ethan wrapped up the painting and called a delivery service then said "We are arranging an anonymous donation for our boss, can you deliver this to the Port Charles art gallery."

An hour later, listening to the bug in Sonny's phone, they rolled as he argued with them about 'his' painting. Even more so when they heard his calling Bernie and complaining only to be told to call an attorney. They were shocked to find out Diane had quit. "What next?"

"Morgan is back, I will track him down while you see what you can get on Spoon Island." He said before leaving, still laughing until he felt his arm grabbed and turning around saw Max Giambetti.

"I am not here for Sonny, I need your help." He told the Italian.

"I should trust you…" he said.

"Yes, because I have a story for you." Max leaned against his car and told him how Claudia had died then said "I know you want to go after Mikey, but he was defending his mother."

"No, this is all on your boss." He said then added "Why are you here?"

"Elizabeth Webber and her boys are missing. Jason went looking for them and is gone, but Sonny is refusing to help. You have connections and I think you get that she is an innocent. I want you to help me find her."

Looking at the man, he said "Why? Last I heard you were all up Carly Jack's rear and she is part of the problem, Sam McCall is a bug, easily swatted, but Carly is trouble."

"I agree." He said "Elizabeth needs to come home or at least to be found. She can decide what happens after that."

"Fine." He said. "I am in and same thing with Ethan." They were already looking but Max still wasn't completely trusted.

Steven listened to what Dante and Mac had to say then said "What are you saying? That Cameron isn't Elizabeth's?"

"No, he is her son, we just can't prove that Zander is his father. Also, the tests for her new baby, did you ever see the results and are you sure she is pregnant?"

"That I am sure of. She had weight gain and her baby bump had started." He said. "Did Spencer give you anything?"

"Just that he did drug her, he admitted it in court." Said Dante. "I have a question, one that you aren't going to like but how sure are you that Cassadine didn't fudge the tests?"

"Why would he?" he asked then recalled what he had seen. "Does he have my sister?"

"No, he is doing absolutely nothing different, same with Sam McCall. That geek is free, they had to let him go and he went straight to Sonny's."

"Have you seen the Port Charles Herald website?" asked the desk officer as he entered the room. "We have been getting calls for the last fifteen minutes."

Logging on, Dante expected to see Lucky's conviction but instead was greeted with a picture of a woman tied up and holding a newspaper dated this month. "Sir, do you know this woman?"

Mac looked closer and started to swear as he grabbed his phone. "That is Laura Webber, your ex-girl friends mother." He said then hearing Luke say what said "Spencer, get to a computer and get on the PC Herald Webpage, Laura is tied up with a note in front of her."

Luke rushed off the boat and knew that the closest computers were at the Corinthos/Morgan warehouses while Mac called Nik Cassadine and told him. The Prince realized that Jerry had done what he had threatened and destroyed his office.

Luke rushed into the warehouse and didn't even stop when he realized there was no guard at Sonny's door. Seeing the geek talking to Sonny, he pushed him out of the way and said "How do I get the Herald on this contraption?"

"Not now, Spencer." Snapped Sonny only for the white haired man to say "Get it on there now or I destroy you and we both know I have the goods to do it."

"Do it," Sonny snapped at Spinelli only for the kid to say "I…"

"Now! You freak." Yelled Luke then when the kid had done so turned it around so that Sonny could see the picture.

Sonny swore as he realized that the picture in the headlines was his so called painting that had been purchased with his money. "Who did you piss off Spencer?"

"Besides my former daughter-in-law, no one." He snapped then said "What about you, I saw that painting recently; I know that you bought it and that my son and Zachara donated it to the gallery in your name."

Sonny went to say something but Spencer was gone before he could. "Find out about this, I am certain this has something to do with my missing money. Now where is Jason, I expected him to come back when he got you free."

"Mr. Sir, I haven't seen Stone Cold but am glad he is free to roam amongst again. I was let out because they had to either charge me or let me." He said while Sonny swore and tried to call Max only to be told the phone was no longer in service.

Trying Milo, he got the same and calling Bernie he was told that he hadn't heard from Jason but that Sam had taken out a large sum of money from the account set up for her.

Sam spent the afternoon at the spa, getting treatments, including a total wax job before having the woman do her hair. "I want it lightened, but not too light. More highlights and could you do a perm, I want nothing to outrageous, but curly, if you get my drift."

The hairdresser thought about the request that had come through the grapevine and the money that had been offered and said "A whole new you, coming right up."

As the short woman went to get her hair washed, the hairdresser asked the woman from the spa, "How long do I have?"

"She will really start to feel it about five so take you time and do a good job, the client in question is a really good tipper." Sam heard the last part of that and preened missing seeing Alice hand the waxer an envelope.

Taking care, the woman made the front look perfect than hacked the back before pulling it back to color it. An hour later, she said "You need to sit under the dryer for a while, and then we can add the highlights."

Sam was bored and on the phone with Spinelli as she tried to track down Jason and missed the looks from the other stylists as they watched her color changes. Then the colorist came over and said "Elsie is going to do your perm."

Monica timed it just right as Diane and she entered the salon after the call from Alice. "Amazing the trash they serve here."

"If you have money, in her case money she more than likely stole from Jason, you can get in anyplace." Said Diane.

"Thankfully that isn't true and I only have to see her kind once in awhile. Great cut there, Sam, what statement are you trying to make?" Monica asked as Diane left so she could claim no knowledge of what went down. To cover for them, she had had lunch with her at the bistro across the street.

Sam stood and walked to the door as the woman told her she was all set. Looking in the mirror, she saw the curls and the color and said "Great job then left them a ten for the tip before leaving. Monica handed over the thick package and said "When?"

"The color will interact with the perm in about an hour and first will come the chemical reaction, changing the color to a very nice clown red followed by the curls tightening to an afro then her hair will become flat as a pancake. Lastly it will start to fall out."

Jerry had just about given up on locating Baby's breath when he found a tiny connection. A boat had disappeared from New York City not long after a jet chartered to Helena Cassadine took off from Port Charles. Funny thing was, she had already collapsed so who had arranged that flight and then removed the boat from the registry.

Nothing at first, then he found an order on a Lansing credit line he had considered using until he realized that the geek might be able to trace it. Doing some research he found a boat that took several people including a desperately ill patient to a small Island off the coast of Georgia.

Then a week later, a private duty nurse was hired. He had almost walked away, thinking it was just a coincidence until he ran her name and came up with a connection to Port Charles. Well, well, well, Elizabeth Webber hadn't been kidnapped; her family had fled instead to a private Island owned by connection to Gail Baldwin who was sister in law to Audrey Hardy.

"Whoever did this, you are good, but I am better." He said before calling Franco, "It's a go, I found the queen for your chessboard and two of the pawns."

Franco just said "Get them here while I deal with the rest, oh and Jacks, she better be whole and hearty when she gets here. No messing with her, just get her and the kids and get back here."

"I am not even going, I am going to send one of our pawns." He said with a soft chuckle before hanging up.

Franco called a delivery service and had the paintings scheduled for delivery first thing in the morning. Then making a call said "He has served his purpose, take him out and leave him where I told you to."

Franco walked down to the basement and along the cages, "Hello my little pigeons, tomorrow is your day to fly free."

Stopping at the one cage, he reached in and when Maxie tried to pull back grabbed her chin and said "You, you get to go free today."

After being given a shower, fresh clothes and handed a file, she was detained and told "A going a way present, I do believe you told Mr. Spinelli to find a woman to sleep with, that it will make you even for having sex with me on my floor. He took your advice, here watch."

When she woke up she was in Spinelli's bed with the pictures of his interlude with Sam poured out all over her. Hearing footsteps, Maxie looked up and saw Sam standing in the door. "Maxie?"

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 9

Commissioner,

The video you are about to see, is real; do not adjust your set.

Nemesis

When Dante entered Mac's office, his boss was white and just about to pass out. "MAC? Here." He said helping the man sit down. "What is it?"

Shaking, Mac said "Hit rewind and then play."

Seeing the screen he looked from the picture on the screen to picture behind the man. "Your wife and daughter?"

"Ex-wife, but yes." He said before standing then handed him the letter.

Looking at the screen he said "That geek, do you know where he is?"

Dante thought about what he had heard and knew what Mac was going to do. "I am coming with you."

"No, this is my daughter." He declared as he pulled open his drawer and holstered his gun.

"I know where he is and I can get us past my father's guards." Said Dante grimly as he looked at the screen and the two women tied up. "Let's go, I am driving."

Maxie just lay there, leaning on her arms as she looked at Sam then said "Was he any good?"

"What? Who? What are you talking about?" she asked a bit worried, but then she dismissed her fears, Jason would forgive her, he had before after Ric.

"I told Spinelli, after I slept with Franco to find the next skank and have sex with her, I was just wondering did he rock your world?" she said with a wicked grin. "I mean, we both know that Jason doesn't. I have heard you two, I know what it sounds like when a man is just using a woman to get his rocks off and the woman is faking it,"

"What?" asked Sam then saw the pictures, picking them up, she said "These are photo shopped, I promise you, Maxie. Jason is the man for me."

"Yes, he is, isn't he? After all he is rich, immoral and lets you play out your fantasy of being a private detective. Too bad it's as a bad private detective, have you ever solved a case on your own?"

"I found proof of the Mayor's having an affair." She said proudly.

"I could have told you that, heck; desk check in at any hotel in town could have, along with the maids, the room service delivery people and even the shoe shine boy at the train station." She said dryly. "Did you tell Jason, you screwed Spinelli?"

Looking at Sam and her expression, she said "You did and this is the big seduction scene where you plot to get him back, isn't it?"

Sam flushed and Maxie said "Since we are no longer friends, let me let you in on a little secret, this last time, when you two got back together, it was because of Spinelli. See he sent Jason some e-mails on his phone, a couple of text messages that supposedly came from Elizabeth. Every time I helped Spinelli break a piece of Jason's heart, he would move closer to you, trying to get over her. It was so funny, we screwed up a couple of times, not knowing they had seen each other but Jason would believe what was written in them."

"I don't understand." Said Sam only for Maxie to laugh and go to closet for Spinelli's game computer. "Here, let me show you."

Typing she pulled a message she wrote to Jason "Jason, when Lucky and I took Jake and Cam to the park today. I saw you, please; remember your promise to stay away. I know that this hurts you but please understand, the boys see Lucky as their father and I made a mistake last year when we were together. I should have never let that happen, it would have hurt the boys and Lucky way too much. Your friend, Elizabeth."

Hitting the down key, she showed her the next one "My personal favorite, sent just before Valentines. Jason, I was with my therapist today and I came to realize something that I know is going to hurt you, but that I just had to get off my chest… I love Lucky, I have always loved Lucky. You, you were a dream, a fantasy; the one most good girls have but never try to fulfill. Thank you for letting us be a family and I wish you will."

Sam said "You expect me to believe that Jason only did things for me because of these letters?"

"Yup." She said cruelly. "You should have seen the one sent while Franco was in town, it was a lovely piece of work, but take heart Sam, and I think you were told he loves you as a result of it. Spinelli's plan with the bouquet and the garter belt failed, my guess is it was too much after the note Spinelli sent supposedly from Elizabeth. I was wondering though, did it at least get you laid?" she asked with a smirk.

Standing, Maxie picked up her shoes from the dresser then said as she walked past Sam who stood there looking shell shocked, "What, did you really buy that he forgave you? You were convenient, like a comfy old shoe that he knew would fit. You wear them until they fall apart and then go out and buy a new set and try to break them in."

Sam reached out to slap her only for Maxie to catch her hand. "I don't have time for you; I have to find my father. AND Sam, get checked out because Franco gave me some news that I guess you have a right to have. He has a minor problem that can be taken care of with penicillin, I am sure I passed it on to Spinelli and knowing that you can't have kids, I am sure you had unprotected sex with him."

Maxie gave a quiet chuckle as she walked away. "And if you see Spinelli, please let him know that we are now even but with his sleeping with you, uh, I don't want him back."

Sam stood there then looked around the pink room, the only room they hadn't changed since Maxie liked it and felt a chill come over her body. No, Maxie was wrong and she was just trying to hurt her. Jason loved her, and when he came home she would clear things up with him.

Going to his room, she changed into the outfit to convince Jason that she was perfect for him. The leather skirt and black see thru shirt were paired with her high heeled boots that Jason had mentioned one of the times they were together. She knew he loved how much she dressed like him.

Going down the stairs, she arranged for the Chinese food then went to the kitchen to get the beer chilled as she heard a knock on her door. "Alexis, I think you made your feelings perfectly clear, why are you here? Want to tell me some more about how I am responsible for the bad week that Kristina had."

"I am not here to argue with you, Samantha, I just wanted to let you know that the State Police were at the Lake house, they wanted to talk about Elizabeth Webber being missing and if I thought you were capable of grabbing her and her boys."

"I didn't do anything, I didn't need to. I have what I wanted back and she can keep that kid; it's not like Jason gives a damn about him. He is all about Sonny's kids." She said smugly. "And they already like me."

"Not after your little fit. If you are relying on them to smooth the way, it won't be happening any time soon. By the way, I heard about Carly, I got an earful from her this morning. She still loathes your guts and Jason is a close second right now. I never thought I would see the day when that happened."

"Oh, please. I only got to Jake before she could come up with a plan, like she is any better than me. She is the only person who hates that that kid exists more than I do." She said sneering as she walked to the door and said "If you wouldn't mind, Jason and I have plans tonight."

"He deserves what he gets." Alexis said shaking her head then turning and remarked. "You know, when I lived here, I thought of this place as my sanctuary, funny how a place of peace has become a den of iniquity"

"Jason and I are equals, how dare you say any different?"

"Iniquity, not inequity. What ever happened to getting that GED Sam?"

Patrick watched impassively as Morgan puked up his guts yet again. He found he almost took pleasure in the way the man was stoically refusing to complain about a pain that would make a weaker man cry.

When Epiphany entered with another bottle of Pediasure, he saw Morgan about to refuse to drink it but he just said "You need the electrolytes."

Grimacing as he drank the bottle, he watched as Patrick pricked his finger than took a blood sample. When the man came back a half hour later, he said almost there. "The drugs are slowly leaving your stomach. You need to be careful, avoid getting hit in the head while the clot starts to shrink."

"Has there been any word, on Elizabeth? On the boys?" he asked.

"Nothing and Robin hasn't heard anything from Mac yet." He said as Jason shuddered at the idea of the only people looking for Elizabeth being the Port Charles PD. He was about to start to throw up again when Roy came in and said "Medical personal out."

Patrick started to protest but Epiphany pushed him out the door. She had seen that look on Roy DeLuca's face before and it didn't bode well for someone.

"What is it?"

"Max called me; he knows I am in town from my visit to Sonny. He asked for my help in what he called a recovery posse to rescue Elizabeth and her family then warned me that he had gotten into it with Sonny and that he didn't want to put me in any danger but that Elizabeth needed our help. There is more."

"What?" snapped Jason as he lowered his head to throw up.

"He said that the Zachara kid reported someone hiring some of his father's former men for a snatch and grab. Tonight. Out of town."

Trying to stand, Roy shoved him back down and said "No, we need you here; I wish you had bothered to mention that Jerry Jacks was a problem. I saw the bastard in town a few days ago with some dark haired man that Max identified as that freak job artist Franco."

When Jason tried to stand again, Roy grabbed his shoulders and said "LOOK, listen to me. YOU are in NO SHAPE to help. You stay here; spearhead this thing with the men staying here. And you should know that I sent Milo to grab that computer geek of yours."

"Why?" asked Jason as he fell to his knees and puked again.

"Scorpio is looking for him. We want to find him first because I overheard something on those bugs we planted in your penthouse."

"About Sam, don't bother, I don't give a shit." He said before bowing his head yet again. "Get to Elizabeth, find out who has her and the boys, and bring her back to safety."

"I will, you need to work with this Zachara kid and Dante. Max and Milo along with this Ethan Lovett are going to Charleston then taking a helicopter from there."

"How did you find out where they were going?"

"They were told there was big money in helping and they went to Zachara just as he was leaving his father's house." Said Roy. "Look, I have to go, get well and I am sending over those two men as soon as I track down this Dante kid."

"Don't bother, I am here." Said the man from the doorway. Looking at Morgan, he said "We were looking for Drake, Mac is out there waiting, and he is making some calls. Turns out Frisco Jones is in town. And Felicia the ex-wife of both of them was grabbed by this Franco."

Roy helped Jason up and the two men carried him into the living room where Epiphany handed him a wastebasket. "Morgan, that freak sent me this."

Watching it, Jason said "Why were you looking for Spinelli?"

"He was with Maxie, he told me she wanted to stay behind at the spa that she broke up with him. I want to talk to that little bastard myself." He growled only for Jason to be given another bottle of clear liquid then begin to throw up immediately afterwords.

Patrick updated Mac and Dante along with the rest of the men who had shown up. "The same pills given to Elizabeth. He was given them by a doctor, told they would help with his migraines. He was taking them from August '08 when Kate Howard was shot, then in February last year, doubled the dose to two and then last July, started taking 6.

"Where did he get them?" asked Mac who when he heard what was said replied. "We can eliminate Spencer; he didn't get access to them until the fire at the hospital."

"What about Cassadine? Morgan, when did he learn about Elizabeth and you?" said Ethan from the doorway.

"I don't know." Said Jason hoarsely. "I don't know."

Roy asked Mac, "Did you check out McCall?"

"I did, but she didn't do this. She was my first suspect but no, it wasn't her." He replied a bit annoyed not to be able to arrest her.

"We have to take off, but all three of you need to put aside your differences and tell each other what you know." Said Roy. "This is not looking good, so please, for the sake of this family, talk to one another."

When Spinelli was brought onto the plane, he saw Max and Mac Scorpio along with another man before Milo said to the blond with him. "I am going to help Jason. I have an idea but you don't want to know about it."

Nodding, Frisco looked at the geek then said "Sit down, Damien."

"I should go, help my master. Stone Cold needs me." He said only for Mac to put place his hand on the base of his neck and squeeze before saying. "Sit down, shut up unless you are told to talk."

"My enchanted one's father needs to loosen the Vulcan death grip, I can't…" Mac grabbed Spinelli by his windpipe and shoved him into an airplane seat and said "Shut up."

Spinelli saw the look on his face and started babbling. "I swear, I didn't actually sleep with her, I was a sleep when Sam accidentally climbed into my bed."

Max said "And landed on his dick, yup, quite the accident."

"Spinelli, I could care less because I doubt you make it off this plane alive." Said Roy as he sat down on the kid's other side and squeezed his knee putting pressure on his artery. "I want to talk about Jason and some e-mails that were sent to him from Elizabeth Webber, ones you created."

"I would never interfere in Stone Cold's love life." He sputtered only for Mac to grab him by his windpipe again. "The studious commissioner is hurting the Jackal. He is acting quite unlike his usual stalwart self."

"According to my daughter you did. Maxie gave it up." Said Mac before turning to Frisco, "Where is she?"

"I sent her to the safest place I know." He replied with an evil grin. "She is locked in a cell at the police station. So Damien Spinelli, you are the loser that Maxie decided she deserved after losing her sister."

"Who are you?" asked Spinelli while Frisco said "We can get to that later. Right now, answer Mac's question before he decides to cause you more pain. Because frankly no one on this jet gives a crap if you make it home alive."

Spinelli just smiled then looking around saw that they were serious and said "Look, I was only looking after my master. He was mooning over what can never be so I decided to help him get over her. The Maternal one served her purpose; she is raising the progeny that will someday carry on the honor of my master."

"Give me the lap top." Said the man coming from the back of the jet. When Spinelli refused, Frisco pulled out a knife and cut it off the geek and tossed it to the man. "Find what we are looking for."

"He won't be able to crack my code." Said Spinelli then watched in shock as the man soon had access to his files. "Who are you?"

"A dead man." Snapped the blond before pulling up the e-mails and printing them for Roy who growled and said "You are very lucky that I am going to let Jason deal with you, I would kill you if it was me."

On the Island, Elizabeth felt someone shaking her, and when she looked up she saw the two men with guns. When they saw she was awake, the man whispered "Come with us, we have your boys."

Getting dressed, Elizabeth put what he tossed at her right over her pajamas as she listened to him talking into a mike. "Don't hurt my boys, just take me. Please, my sons have been through way too much, please?"

"We aren't going to hurt you, just do what we say."

An hour later, the entire household was awoken by the sound of a helicopter. Gail, Audrey and Annie soon realized that Elizabeth and the boys weren't up just as Mac Scorpio came rushing at them. "Where is Elizabeth?"

Seeing their expression, he swore and said "Dammit, we are too late." Turning to Max he said "Call and let Morgan know."

"Morgan, I should have known." Said Audrey scornfully. "Isn't that the story of my granddaughter's life with him? He can't be bothered to come himself after he more than likely is the reason she is in danger."

When no one said anything she snapped "So where is the black knight, off having sex with the whore that watched my great grandson get kidnapped, holding a pee stick for Carly Jacks again or maybe he is helping Mr. Corinthos commit a felony, so what was more important than keeping his son safe?"

Max and Roy had searched the island then reported to Mac. "A boat, it looks like Elizabeth was awake since there are small footprints."

"What is going on here?" snapped Annie as she looked at the man who seemed to be in charge.

"An artist named Franco; he sent me a video and has been stalking Morgan for a while."

Audrey and Gail went to grab their bags while Annie just glared at all of them. "We are coming with you."

"We don't have time." Snarled Max. "You have no idea what…"

"And whose fault is that? Did Mr. Morgan bother to warn the mother of his child, no but you can be damn sure that he did Carly, that whore he is sleeping with and that computer geek, so Mr. Giambetti, did he warn them?" snapped Audrey as she came back.

Max looked at the woman and said "We don't have time to argue."

"Then don't." she snapped as they went to the large helicopter. Arriving at Mt. Pleasant they loaded the plane quickly, and then took off. Seeing Spinelli, Audrey said "I guess that answers my question."

When Spinelli started to talk, Frisco glared at the kid then said to Audrey, "Look, I get that you are worried but honestly this isn't all Morgan's fault."

"Excuse me?" she asked affronted on Elizabeth' behalf then got an earful about Lucky Spencer and the drugs. "That doesn't change the fact that when push comes to shove, my granddaughter and great grandsons are always the ones who get shove to the bottom of the pile."

Pulling them out of earshot of Spinelli, Roy told them how Morgan's migraine medicine had been switched and then handed them the e-mails. "The geek sent them; we are also looking into Cassadine's part in this mess. What can you tell us?"

"Nothing, we were there as medical personal and can't talk about it." Said Annie while walking back to the main body of the jet. Sitting down she looked at the geek who was telling Max once again that he had done what he had for Stone Cold's good.

"Why?" she asked. "Why is it better for this man to be away from his child and with the whore who endangered Jake?"

Spinelli glared at her and said "My goddess is the best, she can handle herself, she doesn't run when there is danger. She gets along with his friends, and doesn't try to change him. Someday she will get what she wants."

"And you consider this a good thing?" snarked Annie. "From what I heard she is a con woman who considers kids a commodity."

"You don't know her, you don't know what she has suffered." Replied Spinelli. "She has lost her child, she was beaten by an ex-husband so badly that she had to defend herself. She is the way she is because of the terrible things that have happened to her."

"And because of this you consider her a better woman?" she asked. "She lost what, one child? Elizabeth miscarried two and you don't hear her whining about it years later. As for being beaten, Elizabeth was attacked in the park, had an abusive husband and still is the sweet and kind woman she always has been. Your pal Sam is the way she is because she chooses to be that way."

Shaking his head, Spinelli said "You just don't understand that Sam is the perfect woman. There is no woman who outshines her."

"Gail, do you have any drugs that will shut him up?" asked Mac as he looked at the kid then said "Most men, most men with any brains and class would prefer Elizabeth to Sam. You on the other hand are still suffering from arrested development more then likely the result of the way you were raised."

In Port Charles, Franco was thinking about taking out Nicolas Cassadine but he figured that if Morgan survived he would want that pleasure himself. As his men started to gather the rest of his pigeons, he made his list and checked it twice before looking in on his lab rats.

He had been amused when Milo Giambetti took Jason Morgan to the safe house he had bugged but had been furious when he realized that Morgan had been drugged. How that one had gotten past him and had interfered in his game last time made him vow to take all contingencies into account.

As his pawns slowly gathered around him, Franco saw that his guests to his art showing were starting to receive their invitations and that they had no idea what they were about. Smirking, he watched as Sonny Corinthos looked at the painting and then tossed into the fireplace.

Calling his people he said "Take him; I have set up the rest of it. Make sure my guests are here and then set the cameras and the bombs."

Jax was annoyed when he realized Carly hadn't come home from the hotel the night before. She had been in a deep funk every since the conversation with Diane Miller but had refused to tell him what it was about.

Checking the rooms, he was even more pissed off when he saw that the children were all gone. Morgan and Michael more than likely were at their fathers but where were Jocelyn and Mercedes?

Hearing a soft sound, he turned and saw his brother. "Jerry, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't let me interrupt." Said the man behind Jerry before placing the ether filled handkerchief over the man's mouth while his partner did the same to Jax. "Where are we going next?"

"We only have two stops. Let's take this Brownstone, leave the jail cell for last."

Another team was picking up Franco's' guests but this group wasn't to be harmed. As they were loaded into the back of the limo at gunpoint, Luke asked "Who is doing this?"

"Relax; this is just an invitation to a very unique art show. I believe the correct expression is performance art." Replied the driver as he nodded at the men then locked in the guests.

The last group staged a prison break. As they were lagging behind, Franco decided they would be the last part of the show. When all the pieces for his very unique showing were in place, Franco said to his manager. "Make the call."

Dialing, she listened to doctor then said "Is this Patrick Drake?"

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"There was a car accident, I am the attending at Mercy, Lois Carpon, I was asked to have you come over and scrub in."

Checking on Morgan, he once again reminded him to avoid hitting his head then went to Epiphany. "His numbers look good, he looks a little weak. Give him a potassium bag then let him go."

"He might not wait, they got word. Elizabeth and the boys were grabbed." She said. "From wherever they were before."

"Tell him… never mind, it's not like it will make a difference." He said sadly. "I just get this feeling…"

Jason was leaning against the wall and said "Me too and I promise… I will bring the boys and her home."

"Then do us all a favor, walk away. She has been through enough grief and frankly all you bring her is sadness and danger. And I'm not talking about your business either, I am talking about your friends."

Jason flinched then went back to the bedroom and closed the door on Dante and Johnny's faces. Opening the closet, he took out the box he had moved to the top shelf and then opened it.

Reaching inside, he held the few items he had of his family and said "I will, she deserves better a life, one without all this pain."

Grabbing the gun off the nightstand, he touched the ring he put in his pocket as a talisman then went to save his family for one last time.

Franco saw the next to last of his exhibits and saw the red skin and the bright red hair and couldn't resist as his men tied her up on the stage. "Nice look, Miss McCall. Or should I call you bozo the clown."

The people in the audience who were tied to their chairs all around the stage with men with guns pointed at them were shocked as a few found they still had the ability to laugh.

Sam McCall was wearing a bikini that left little to the imagination and that she was falling out of, but this time that was more than likely the fault of the rash that had swollen her extremities as well as making her look like she had red and yellow hash marks all over her body.

Diane who had been furious at what was going down, looked at the woman with the tight afro that was bright red with blue highlights and couldn't help thinking that Monica Quartermaine certainly knew how to do revenge well.

When Franco turned the woman to face the audience he told his assistant to get a full length mirror so that Sam could see herself while he walked over to the computer set up on the stage and hit the play button.

He smiled and bowed at the cries of shock and the screams. "Thank you, I hope you enjoy the show. And I must go and tell our heroes what they are going to win or in this case lose if they make the wrong choice."

Jason, Dante and Johnny were on their way out the door when Ethan showed up and slammed on his brakes. "WAIT, you have to see this."

On the screen behind the stage, the 'guests' saw the four men as Ethan showed them the note.

"Morgan, you cheated last time. This time I anticipated you would reach out for help. Our last encounter by the way, was a trial, a way to test your reflexes. Now with the drugs in your system, you may not be at peak capacity and you should know that the doctor who sold you to me, died for not telling us about them, so don't worry, he has been dealt with. Wait, where was I?

"Oh, yes, now I remember. Last time was a test this time it is all for real. Here are the rules. You and your three companions must work together to free each correct prisoner. No deviations allowed."

"If you chose the wrong one, besides killing the innocent that you should have saved, I will be killing someone in my audience."

"Oh the audience, if you aren't perfect, they die. Mr. Falconari's mother, the very lovely Olivia and her cousin the equally lovely Miss Howard. Edward and Monica Quartermaine, your former attorney, the very lovely Miss Miller. Each choice is a repeat of a mistake you have made in the past. You only get one chance to fix what you did wrong."

"I should mention, those men you sent to save Elizabeth and her sons, they will be busy. A few are now part of the game, others are even now tied up and here is the kicker, ten minutes in I am sending in a second team of people, but let's just say their agenda won't be the same as yours. So, don't try anything, remember, I have read your playbook and I know all your moves."

"And lastly, you have an hour. At the end of that hour, a bomb located beneath one of these two women is going to go off." Jason saw Elizabeth and Carly both tied up and knew what the man had in mind which was confirmed by the next statement.

"And you are only allowed to free one of them."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 10

Franco watched as his guests were being brought in at gun point and noticed one he hadn't 'invited' and asked "Who are you?"

Glaring at the man she was sure had grabbed Elizabeth and her sons and said "Annie Logan."

"Oh, yes the woman brought in to help Elizabeth deal with what has been happening. So, Sam what is your opinion? Is Elizabeth Webber crazy as a result of her guilt over having an affair with Nicolas Cassadine, over having to shoot someone to save your worthless behind or is it because she knows that Jason Morgan knowingly is sleeping with you after you harmed her children, his children?"

The audience were split some watching as Audrey and Gail were tied up, others couldn't tear their eyes away from the spectacle of Sam McCall bawling as she stared into a mirror of herself with red curly hair that had very lovely bright iridescent blue highlights.

When she didn't answer, Franco just smirked then said "Mrs. Hardy, my men informed me that you put up quite a fight before learning that if you came quietly Elizabeth and her sons would be safe that while the men with you did some damage, it was you who took out their leader. Impressive for someone so old but when I chose you as the person to free Elizabeth last month, I knew that already."

Spinelli was lead into the room by two limping men and Sam who had stopped crying couldn't help calling out to him when he stared at her. "Where is Jason?"

"Mr. Morgan is rather busy at the moment. Mr. Spinelli, what happened to your arm?" asked Franco when he saw the bandage.

Glaring at the man, he said nothing until pressure was put in the wound. "My fair Maxiamestia's stalwart father shot me." He stated while staring at the strange device in front of him and then looked at Franco who ordered him to get on it.

"Why?" he asked only to be shoved onto what looked like a hamster's wheel that started to move as soon as he stood on it.

"If you tell us why you were shot, I won't make the wheel go faster. If you stop talking the machine speeds up." He said then started to lazily make the wheel go faster then slowed it down when Spinelli started to give in.

"He shot me because I told him the truth." He said defiantly. "I told him that he was wrong that women like Sam are the dreams of leaders and great men. That she is the epitome of beauty, wit, capability and sensual charm."

"So he shot you in the arm?" asked Franco while watching his audience's expressions. "I would have shot you in the groin; stop your obviously defective gene pool from propagating."

Jerry who was tied to the wheel of fortune groaned at what he heard while waking up. Franco who walked over to the wheel of fortune in the middle of the room asked. "Shall I introduce our game now?"

Seeing no reaction, Franco said "Then let's have Spinelli continue. How did speaking your mind get you shot?"

"The sta—"

"Can we call people by their names, you are taking to long and we only have a half hour until your buddy Morgan gets to the start of our game." he snarled.

"Uh, Mac Scorpio said I had no idea what I was talking about; that men preferred whiney, incapable women who cheat like that horrid woman who stole away my master's sperm that rightfully belonged to my goddess." Said Spinelli unaware that he had been slipped a legal version of truth serum by Gail earlier instead of pain reliever and found himself saying what he had kept hidden for so long.

"I still don't get why you were shot."

"Mrs. Hardy asked that the woman with the medical bag to shut me up since she didn't want to hear how inadequate her granddaughter is and she refused saying she couldn't proscribe the only drugs she had for the job."

Franco turned to Gail Baldwin and asked why not? "Because it is a strong sedative meant to be used for people suffering pain, not those that cause it by running their mouth about subjects they have no knowledge or understanding of." She glared at Spinelli as she talked.

Franco laughed as he got it. "So Scorpio shot him?"

"Just as we were exiting the plane." She replied. "He never got anything more than a mild truth serum when I removed the bullet though right now, I wished I had given him nothing."

Franco nodded then looked at Spinelli, "Since you are so up-to-date on gods and goddesses, could you tell me who nemesis is?"

"Nemesis, someone who is your opposite, your enemy?" he asked as the wheel was turned faster. He looked at Sam for help, but her hair was starting to do something weird and she was staring at it in fascination.

"Really, well you compare your buddy Sam to a goddess, what goddess are you talking about?" he asked while Jax from where he was tied up watched his brother who looked like he was plotting something. Hopefully something that would save his wife thought Jax.

Spinelli gave a silly grin then said "Aphrodite, the goddess of love, of course, with Athena, Diana and of course the Queen of the gods thrown in, Zena."

Franco looked at him then asked the crowd "Who has heard of a god named Zena?"

"She is the Princess Warrior." Said Spinelli as he went on and on only for Franco to shake his head as he finally understood then said "Television, you are comparing her to a television show? You do know that that is make believe, don't you?"

"No, I was comparing Jason's goddess to the gods of Mount Olympus." He said with a whacked out grin courtesy of whatever Gail had given him.

"You are sad and pathetically lacking in knowledge." Franco shook his head. "Let's start with Aphrodite; she is nubile and infinitely desirable. Let's compare."

Walking over to Sam in the bikini she had been forced to change into by her kidnappers, he pointed at her and said "Nubile, not likely…it means young looking, supple, and delicate. Sam already looks used up and as for desirable, I guess that is in the eye of the beholder."

"Stone Cold desires her." He said only for Franco to laugh.

"Then why would you have to send him fake e-mails from the mother of his child, Elizabeth Webber. Letters that would be considered hurtful and cruel even if your master's heart wasn't involved. If his desire for Sam was real, wouldn't he have bedded her long before he did and more than likely wouldn't have required drugs and a concussion to make it happen?"

Spinelli looked at Sam apologetically then said "My master was confused by his desire to be a good parent."

"Let's continue on, Aphrodite is vain, ill-tempered and easily offended. Yes, I do see that part of a goddess in Sam." He said. "Athena, the goddess of wisdom, strength, strategy and skill."

Laughing he said "Not in this lifetime, or the next. If you mean in the idea of her being the goddess of war, the real goddess avoided fighting by using wisdom. Something your pal knows nothing about. And lastly Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt."

Spinelli flushed as Franco's derisive laughter moved closer. "You yourself know she isn't a virgin, you have first hand knowledge of that fact."

"How dare you…" Only for the screen behind him to give them a live and in color version of what had gone on in the penthouse between Sam and him. Most covered their eyes while Jax just rolled his eyes then snorted in laughter when the nerd called Sam, Maxie.

Spinelli sat down; with wounded eyes he looked at Sam then said "How could you?"

"Me, what about you, I gave you the best night of your life and you call me Maxie?"

Spinelli was mumbling something that had Franco laughing out loud. "Oh, this is too good not to share."

Walking over to the computer, he amplified the taped utterance and they all soon heard him saying "I have had better."

Franco then walked over to Sam, saying "Uh, what is going on with your hair?"

Sam looked at the mirror and saw her curls were gone and then feeling her head realized the back of her hair was chopped up and is some places cropped close to her head. As she felt the tears fall, Sam blubbered that her hair dresser had screwed up her perm after her coloring which caused Kate in spite of her fear to laugh.

"Uh, another contingent heard from, Ms. Howard, you have something add?" he asked only for the fashion icon to giggle in nervousness as she said "You never get your hair colored and a perm on the same day. EVER!"

"Oh, it looks like Sam never read your magazine."

"I hope not." She said affronted. "I wouldn't want anyone to think she got her lack of fashion sense from anything in my magazine. She is a fashion don't, if I ever saw one."

Tracy joined in the laughter from the women there while Alexis felt bad for her daughter in spite of everything going on.

"Almost time." Franco murmured as he saw that Jason and his band of merry men were almost where they were supposed to be. Time to shake things up.

"Mrs. Hardy, have you figured out who Nemesis is?" he asked silkily as he approached the pissed off elderly nurse.

"Nemesis, the Greek god who avenges those harmed as the result of hubris." She said sadly.

"Correct. That is why I helped you with Elizabeth, but I would prefer you not say anything more about what is going on, I am sure you can understand why."

"I just want to know, why help her if you are going to kill her?" she asked.

"I will allow Jason Morgan to make that choice, since it is his arrogance, pride isn't a bad thing, but he let his arrogance be pushed one way or another from the various sins of those in his life. His arrogance that he and only he could help them was led to this moment. Unfortunately, the same thing can be said for your granddaughter in a lesser degree. She seems to believe she is the only person who can save Lucky Spencer."

Luke shook his head as he stood and turned to the man with the gun at his throat and said "Shoot me because either way I am speaking. You have that last part wrong. Elizabeth was pushed by my family, by her own into giving herself over to help Lucky."

"But if she had just once, said no, said to you or your ex-wife or even her grandmother, we wouldn't have the mess with Mr. Cassadine and your son today, now would we?"

Luke sat down, feeling old as he watched the screen in front of him that showed Laura being held someplace where he couldn't reach her just as he saw Franco grin again.

Looking around, Luke saw that Monica and Tracy were monitoring Edward's pulse and he couldn't help feeling bad for the old guy. Seeing the triumvirate of Kate Howard, her cousin and Diane Miller seated together, he didn't think that was a coincidence. Nor that there were empty chairs scattered around the room.

He couldn't see past Epiphany Johnson who was seated with that blond female doctor from GH and the ADA who prosecuted Sonny but there was a blond woman sitting there followed by Jasper Jacks, and Mike Corbin.

Wondering about the missing people, he looked up at the stage. Jerry Jacks tied to a wheel of fortune, Sam McCall was in some sort of glass coffin and finally the nerd was on a hamster wheel that was moving. There was one more device but it was off to the side, hidden by the smoke and mirrors.

Hearing sounds, he was rather shocked to see four men being led into the room. Roy who had visited him days ago, along with Mac Scorpio and Frisco Jones, with one of Sonny's large guards being carried in and tied to a chair after being strip searched like the others.

Frisco and Mac were relieved to see Felicia but at the same time worried because Harper had let Maxie out of the jail cell and no one had heard from her since.

Clapping his hands, Franco said "Gentlemen, I do have to say nice try, but you four aren't part of this game. I would offer you some popcorn but I see you are a little tied up right now."

Looking at the small iPod in his hand, he said "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

As the ten screens around the room all kicked on and one came in clearer, he said "Morgan, can you hear me?"

Jason was sitting in the truck with the tools that were on the list then looking at the others said "Yes."

"Good, now the first place you have to go in this lovely bit of performance art is the first place the love of your life held a gun on you, remember that?"

Sam tried to recall then called out "Jason, he wants you to go to the marina."

Franco heard murmuring along with the audience then the central screen showed a street map that had a red dot traveling away from the docks. Sam said in a frustrated tone of voice "He is going the wrong way."

"Actually he isn't." said Frisco as he mentally thanked Ric Lansing for his need for therapy when he moved to LA. He had been an unintentional source of information. The audience only saw the inside of a house then the picture became clear and a gasp was heard around the room.

Ethan was following Jason's directions as they led to Ric Lansing's old house. He was giving Dante and the two others an update on all he knew before they arrived. Stopping outside, he warned them he had no idea what they were going to find in the panic room.

But what he did find when the door slid open made him whimper as he saw Cameron unconscious and tied up. As the door completely opened he realized why Dante was here as they saw Morgan in the same situation.

When Dante went to pass him to get to his little brother, Jason stopped him and said "Remember, we can save only one."

Glaring he said "I am getting my brother."

Pushing him back, Jason got what was going on. "No, we have to get Cameron out."

"Really and how are you…" Jason knocked him on his rear and said "Listen to me, this game is about my life, my mistakes. And one of my worst mistakes was connected to Elizabeth when she lived in this house."

Rolling his eyes, Dante said "What are you talking about?"

"I knew something was wrong with Elizabeth, but I was hurt and in pain and did the same thing you have all rode me about in regards to Sam, only it involved your Aunt Courtney who was no better than your father."

Feeling old, Jason approached the little boy who was starting to wake up and realized that Franco had planned for both boys to awaken.

"Mr. Morgan, I would explain to your helpmates what is going on, you have less than five minutes." Said Franco gleefully.

"Elizabeth, I loved her but walked away because it was easier to deal with everyone else." He said softly. "Then I made almost as big of a mess with Courtney as I did with Sam. I had a chance to fix things a moment in time in a chapel, but in the end, I was a coward, and that almost cost Elizabeth everything."

Looking at Cam, he said "I left the hospital, went home to deal with my mistakes and made things worse, almost costing Elizabeth her life. Then I sat there with her after she was blinded and something happened in that room. Well almost happened." He said closing his eyes to block out the pain. "I went home with my feelings of guilt and dug myself yet an even deeper hole."

"Good, very good." Said Franco gleefully while the audience tried to put together the clues. "Now, to make things even more exciting… Mr. Falconari, tell Mr. Morgan what you found out about Cameron Webber's parentage?"

Dante didn't get it at first then said "The tests at the hospital, in the computer weren't Elizabeth and her son's. Ric Lansing's didn't match and someone named Zander's results is missing."

Jason froze and fell back as he realized the possibilities and almost wept from the pain, Johnny glared at the enforcer and pushed him out of the way before kneeling in front of the kid. As he started to defuse the bomb, most heard Jason's panting as he tried to get control of his emotions.

When the little boy was freed, Jason went to pick him up but Cam looked around and saw Ethan and reached out for the man he knew. Morgan's clock stopped ticking as well and Dante picked up his brother and they left the house.

At the vehicle, Jason went to hold Cam but he just glared at the man then said "You went away and Mommy cried. I hate you."

His already shaky emotions on edge, Jason found himself saying. "I didn't mean to, I promise you, I…" he had nothing to say that wouldn't be a lie so he just let the little boy cling to the Aussie as Johnny started the car then grimaced as Dante said "We can't take them with us."

"Why not?" asked Jason as he wanted to protect them and that was- the house behind them exploded, shaking the ground as fell inside on itself.

At various locations, the hostages reacted, some from the rescue of Cameron and others from the loud noise followed by white then a black screen. Carly was pissed that Franco had grabbed her son then what was being said made her think and she was pissed on Courtney's behalf.

Her friend had been dealing with getting off drugs and Jason had been screwing around with Elizabeth Webber, how could he do that to his own wife.

Elizabeth was glad her son was safe and feeling guilty that she hadn't believed Jason would protect her son followed by confusion as she had no idea what they had been talking about. Jason hadn't been in her hospital room and he most definitely wasn't Cam's father.

As they were pulling into GH, Jason saw Steven Webber and called out to the man who just glared at him while Ethan jumped out with Cam and said "Trouble going down, can't explain but we need you to check out the boys."

"Not here." He said grimly. "I will take them to my grandmother's house."

Not sure what was going on, Jason helped Dante put Morgan in the car, then saw Cam cling to his uncle and saying "Grams cut my hair after I blew a really big bubble."

In spite of the terror going on around them, all five men chuckled as Cam talked to Steven about the lecture he had gotten. Jason felt a sense of relief at the reasoning behind the sudden cutting of his curls that reminded the enforcer so much of his mother.

In the gallery, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief that Cam was safe but looked at the clock and hoped Jason would get to everyone in time so he could save Elizabeth.

Franco clapped and said "Nice job, but you are now running behind. Good thing you don't have far to go. Two are tied up in a room together. A room you know very well and this time, there is a good chance you won't get both the question right and the bomb disarmed in time.

Racing, Jason flew up to the room where Elizabeth had been then realized it didn't exist since the fire. Racing around, he checked all of the rooms then cursed as he realized it was the chapel.

Thundering down the hall, the foursome saw Robin Scorpio tied up and bleeding while Patrick Drake had a bomb in his hands. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Freezing, Ethan looked at her then at Jason who said "We have to get you free."

With a sob, she said "My viral loads are up, you can't."

"Tick tock, Mr. Morgan. Now as to the question, how did your sister die?"

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 11

Johnny was standing behind Morgan and was shocked when he went to help Drake over the female. "What are you doing?"

"Robin told me to help Patrick." He said then looking at her with compassion added "She is being a good mother, putting her child first. I know you don't get it, but I do."

"Strangely enough, I think we all have good reason to doubt your decision making abilities considering the migraine pills and your choice of companions." Snapped Dante.

"A mother once made me promise to protect her child, even over her life. I may not like it, but it is what Robin chose." He said looking at Patrick who was pleading with Robin to let them get her free.

"Morgan, I am waiting for your answer." Asked Franco as he hummed the Jeopardy theme song.

Johnny who had been there snapped. "She died at the hands of the TMK killer during her engagement ball."

"Alas, you chose wrong." Laughed Franco as his men pulled out the last part of his masterpiece. Nicolas Cassadine tied to the same sort of wheel as Jerry Jacks except his was vertical and he was slowly spinning around.

"Cassadine here had a secret. One that once his fiancee found out, she was expendable wasn't she Prince Nikki?" he asked as he spun the man. "And for that wrong guess, someone in the audience gets shot, who shall it be?"

Johnny swore as he realized what his mouth had gotten as they heard the gun shot then what sounded like Tracy shouting "He shot Jerry Jacks, don't let him rattle you, Jason."

A bit shocked at the encouragement from his aunt, Jason soon had Patrick freed who then pulled out latex gloves from his back pocket and grabbing a knife that was hanging off Lovett, cut his wife free then told them to get the bastard before picking her up and rushing her to surgery.

Jason looked down at the pool of blood and tried to estimate how much she had lost when Johnny grabbed him and said "We need the next clue."

As they went towards the exit, Franco laughed out loud as Mac looked relieved to see the doctor carrying his wife out. When Claire saw the look of disappointment on Lisa's face, she growled at her roommate and old friend before saying. "If we get out of here, I never want to see you again."

"What is your problem?" she asked as she tried to figure out the blood loss.

"Tell me you aren't thinking that her dying would be a good idea." She hissed only for Lisa to say "I don't want her dead; I just want to free Patrick from the shrew."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief knowing that if anyone would save Robin it would be her husband. Closing her eyes to pray that everyone made it out okay, she flinched when she heard Jerry getting shot.

When she heard the next clue, she tried to figure out whom that one would be about; it took her mind off the bomb that was tied to the bottom of her chair. She wasn't ready to die, but Elizabeth knew that it was a good possibility and wanted to do so with as much dignity as she could.

Jason arrived at Kelly's and was shocked to see Lulu Spencer tied to a chair with a bomb while her mother was similarly connected to the jukebox. "Laura?"

"Free my daughter." She said then looking at her daughter said "Tell your father…tell him it was a wonderful ride while it lasted. That…I am sorry for the disappointments we caused one another."

"NO, Mom, Jason and Dante, they will free you. Trust me, please?" she pleaded with the middle aged blond who just smiled serenely.

Luke was in the gallery watching on screen and turned to Franco and said "You bastard, how could you?"

"There is the question to be answered, why don't we start there while they try to free your worthless daughter." He retorted. "So, Spencer what is the big secret you have on Sonny Corinthos?"

Looking around, Luke tried to figure a way out of it then said "Frank Smith sold the docks, all of them to ELQ a month before he died. His son was trying to locate the deeds since Edward's company didn't have them; Lee Baldwin was in beginning stages of Alzheimer's."

"Do you have the deeds?" asked Tracy as she glared at her 'husband.'

"No, but I knew of their existence. Which in his world is enough." He said only for Franco to say "Well a half an honest answer deserves a half honest result."

Jason had gotten the bomb disconnected and was leading the Spencer women out of the diner when he heard something click and turned to tell everyone to run.

Dante and Johnny realized that Lulu was way ahead of them but that her mother wasn't, turning they saw Laura Spencer getting caught by the concussion of the blast.

As the four men returned to their feet, they saw Lulu running up and holding Laura's head as she lay bleeding on the ground. Franco laughed in their ears then said "Leave her, or the rest die."

Calling 911 as they left Lulu with her mother, Jason felt bad for the blond until Ethan snapped. "We have to go, Franco is playing another game and if we don't do as he says, Elizabeth is going to die."

"So, if you do leave my mom is going to die and she is way more important than that bitch." She seethed. Ethan in spite of the crunch for time turned and said "Bitch, huh? What about you? Elizabeth did nothing that your brothers didn't cause and she is the one you blame… you need to grow up and realize being a Spencer isn't some sort of honor, more like a curse."

Luke's hands shook as he realized that if this madman was asking questions, he already knew the answer to them. His ex-wife had just paid the price for his lies, once again.

Holding his head in his hands, he said "Why are you doing this, what is in this for you?"

Franco looked at him then said. "Years ago, I saw a man in Italy, I was drawing a picture of him when I realized he was two different people in the same outer shell. I became curious about his life and who and what he was."

"My career became a success because of him, he became my muse. But his life, his life sucked when he returned here and because of that, my art started to turn dark."

Looking around he said "I watched and waited for the man I saw in Italy, the man who was buying glass, looking for something unique for a woman to return. He seemed to become mired in the muck then one night something changes. A fundamental something. Then the very next day he was back to being this mechanical person, this man who let others make choices for him."

"I did research, tried to figure what had happened. Then I was at the right place and the right time and was astounded by what I found out. See, I had had a static burst of creativity before when something similar had happened but then he had retreated again. I was hopeful, my career would a huge success again, and it was easy to keep track of him; of his good moods."

"Then, it happened again. But I knew the why this time and tried to figure out a way to fix it and then I came across something, a secret, then two then three and I realized these secrets, these instances where Jason Morgan's hubris led him to think he was the only one who could fix things, they were what led to these dark and dreary times."

Jason and the others were listening as Franco spoke, then the man said "Oh, yes, they are waiting for their next clue. A cottage is a wonderful place, but to raise a family, take a village doesn't it?"

When Jason had no idea, he snapped "What are you talking about?"

"How about I give you a hint." Said Franco with a grin. "You were so eager to raise him; you ended things with your fiancee for a woman who lied to you repeatedly. A woman who has used you, who has taught her kids that they are the most important people in your life; you are still raising him, in spite of being the father of two boys of your own. Someday, you are going to have to explain how a decision made here led you to toss away your own blood for him. I can't help wondering, is it already too late to change what is growing in their hearts? Why don't you ask your companion Dante how he truly feels about his father Sonny?"

Jason looked frustrated then snapped "What is he talking about?"

"Michael, the child you chose over your own son or sons as may be the case." He said wearily.

"I never chose Michael over them."

"Really, could have fooled me, could have fooled a lot of people." Johnny said quietly while Ethan just looked at the floor mat of the truck not wanting to answer the question.

Jason looked around and said "You truly believe that, especially you, after growing up like you did, Johnny?"

"Yes." Was all he said before asking where Jason had lived with Michael as a baby? Getting the answer, he drove as fast as he could to make up for lost time while Jason really thought about it then recalled what Cam said then said "I wanted what was best for them, I wanted them to live a life without violence without fear."

"How is that working out for you?" sneered Dante. "Someday, Jake and possibly Cam are going to ask hard questions of Elizabeth and you and I doubt that either one of you will have good answers."

"Is that how you feel?" asked Jason as he truly got what Dante was saying.

"No, yes. I mean, in the beginning but the more time I spend here, the more I get why my mother reacted the way she did. And with the people around you two now, Elizabeth is like my mother, the one who is going to be forgiven first. Thanks to my father, your BFF Carly and that loser Spinelli and the whore you are having sex with, you don't stand a chance of acceptance."

Jason wanted to protest, but knew that even with the drugs, he had allowed Sam around, there was no excuse for it, there was nothing he could ever say to his sons that would ever make up for what he had done.

Johnny slammed on the brakes as Ethan, Jason and Dante hopped out. Grabbing the cop, Johnny said "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I know what we are going to see in there, can you let him do what he has to or can you do it if he doesn't?"

Nodding, Dante looked at Johnny and said "You think Jake is in there?"

Johnny replied "This is going to be the start of the real tests; the thing is what is Franco really after?"

Entering they saw Michael tied up then the blond telling Jason, he was the only one there. At first the enforcer was relieved until he heard Ethan shouting from the back room and carrying out Jake along with a box.

"Franco, what is this?" he shouted.

"The question, Mr. Morgan is this…how much is Mr. Michael Corinthos willing to do for you, Michael has the answer, he is the only one who can get into the box and he has already lied to you."

Michael shrugged his shoulders when Jason turned at him and hissed "The code, what is the code to open the box. We have to get Jake whatever is in there."

"Why? I was told that if you get the answer, I might not make it, why should I risk myself for Elizabeth Webber's son?" he said while Carly cringed as she listened to her son go on and on about how Elizabeth was nothing. What had she done?"

Michael just raised his eyebrows when he saw his uncle turn white and said "I need the drug too and he showed me there is only one dose. If the timer runs out, so does the chance he will still need it."

"Do you get what that means, do you get that an innocent child might die?" asked Johnny as he moved closer to the kid.

"What do you care, you want to screw her too?" he asked with a grin. Jason who had been holding Jake, handed him to Ethan and shoved Michael against a wall and said "If you don't give me the antidote, so help me god, you will wish you were still in that coma."

"So make a choice, Uncle Jason, we both know in the end, it will be me, you have always chosen me, after all, from what I heard." He said with a slowly growing smile, "You already made the choice when you…"

"You have no idea." He said hoarsely then called out "Franco, if I shot him, do you have the code?"

Carly huffed from her cell, who did Jason think he was, right now, Michael was just feeling his oats, in the end he will give him the code. There was no way her son wouldn't… bang.

Carly screamed as she realized that Jason had just shot Michael. Meanwhile the man who was still drugged couldn't believe what he had just seen, it had to be the drugs, and there was no way Jason Morgan just shot his son.

Franco laughed then said "His birthday and you only get once chance."

Punching in the numbers, Jason grabbed the needle and found the fleshy part of Jake's thigh and gave him the hypodermic. Michael was crying from the pain while Dante checked him over. Looking up at Morgan, he said "You shot him in the ankle, not the thigh."

"Good, he can take the time in rehab to rethink his career plans and his life." He said before snapping. "We can call an ambulance on the way."

"Where are we going?" asked Ethan while Michael was shouting out his dad and mom would be angry at him for leaving him to die.

"You aren't going to die and Michael, Jake is my son. Something else for you to contemplate." Snapped Jason.

When Jake woke up on the drive and fussed at Jason holding him, his heart felt numb as he handed him off to Ethan and watched as the little boy calmed down.

Arriving at the Hardy residence, they saw Steven come rushing out in answer to Dante's call. Just nodding in thanks, he carried his nephew inside and prayed that Jason was quick enough to save Elizabeth as well.

While the rescue of Jake and Michael was going on, Mac was slowly getting loose. Frisco tried to recall if the name Franco had ever come across his desk when he came to a realization that he was being stared at.

Looking up at the mad man, he said "Yes?"

"We have had a couple of minor difficulties. Seems like Mr. Lucky Spencer managed to piss of his traveling companions and ended up shot so we are going to give you and Mr. Scorpio a chance to play hero."

Looking at them, he said "Three very beautiful women in your family. Your wife, the fetching and intriguing Felicia, the woman who has held both of your hearts. Your eldest Maxie, a rather annoying and sad child. Have you ever wished Mr. Scorpio that your youngest daughter, Georgie had lived and that Maxie had been the one strangled and found on those park steps?"

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 12

Jason heard the question, then ordered Ethan who was driving to head to the park. Finding nothing on the steps, Dante remembered what had happened to Elizabeth and quickly led the way to the park bench, nothing there either.

Jason thought about it then said "If Georgie is still alive, she… kidnapped, and this is about the kidnapping."

Rushing to the spot from where his youngest child had been grabbed, he came to a stop as he saw Maxie and Georgie. Johnny saw the blond he knew and another girl both seemed to be in some sort of cocoon about fifteen feet in the air.

"Mac, they need to know the answer to my question." Mocked Franco who said to Frisco, "What about you, who would you save, the daughter you left behind or the one you chose to ignore."

When the game show theme song was hummed again, Frisco gave up his answer, regretting it even as he heard Mac say Georgie. "Maxie."

"Well, well, we do have a conundrum here, each father wanting to save a different daughter. Mama Jones, what about you? Maxie or Georgie?"

"I can't chose." She said "I love them equally."

"Oh, how sweet, but it looks like we have to leave it up to someone else… hum, who gets to choose. I know, let's ask Mr. Spinelli. Will it be the blond who cheated on you and had sex with me or the sweet innocent sister who your pal Lulu loathes?"

Spinelli didn't even hesitate before saying Maxie. Jason saw the tree had low hanging branches and went to grab the saw from the car. "Now, what do we do?"

Ethan looked at the tree then Dante and Johnny before climbing, saying "You two are going to have to catch her."

Watching the Aussie, Johnny asked "Are we sure this is the right sister?"

"If I am right, I think I know who kidnapped her." He said grimly. When he cut the rope keeping up Georgie's cocoon, she fell then Maxie's branch released the blond. As the two men freed the blonds, Ethan picked up Georgie who Jason had cut loose and carried her to the car while Dante did the same with her sister who looked more scared than anything else.

Returning to the Hardy house, they gave Steven their latest hostage and he said "I called for help; Kelly Lee is upstairs along with my uncle and aunt."

"Don't bring in too many from GH." Warned Dante as he thought about what was going on with Nik.

Nodding, he watched as the quartet drove away and went back inside with Georgie while Maxie walked in under her own steam if a bit slowly. Sitting down, she felt a bit woozy then took the water bottle someone handed her.

Meanwhile Steven was on his blue tooth getting updates from GH. Robin was doing as well as could be expected, the blood transfusions had helped; now they were just waiting on news regarding her viral load.

Laura Spencer had a head injury and was refusing to believe that Lulu was her daughter and kept demanding to see her husband Scott or her mother who she was insisting was a head doctor at GH. She had even requested her stepfather, Rick Webber.

The patient that made Steven want to forget his Hippocratic Oath was Michael Corinthos, since the patient had arrived; he had been a pain in the rear in spite of being told he would live. Seeing his uncle he asked "Did you get an update?"

"Yeah, Morgan shot him when he wouldn't give him the code for the case. Said he just wanted to torture his uncle a little. Funny thing is, I don't believe the little shit but that could be because of my own bias regarding his worthless mother."

"Hey, watch it, that little boy in Cam's room, he is his brother and Carly is his mother." Stated Simone as she left Elizabeth's old room and closed the door. "The patient is suffering from malnutrition and I doubt she used her limbs a lot, they are extremely weak. She has marks where she has been restrained and will be going through withdrawal from whatever they had her on."

"Otherwise, she is okay. I was able to talk to her for a few minutes, she wasn't raped, just held and you are not going to believe who had her." She said in disgust.

"Nik?" asked Steven then saw her surprise at his guessing right. "I am starting to put the picture together and it isn't pretty."

Mac felt sick, he couldn't believe he had said what he had but his first instinct had been to say Georgie. As a father, he couldn't believe he had chosen one of his children over the other yet as a man who had heard what Maxie had been doing, he couldn't help it.

His daughter had spent years living under the shadow of her heart transplant but instead of it making her a better person, it had driven her to feel a very large sense of entitlement against anyone who thwarted her.

As he looked at the ground, he gave up trying to get help. With the sick feeling of guilt eating away at his stomach, he missed seeing Monica's, Tracy's, Epiphany's and even Luke's expression of understanding.

When he heard they were safe all he could think was first how he was going to face Georgie after letting her down. She had been kidnapped over two years ago, and it had taken a psycho and four men under the threat of death to save her.

Then there was Maxie, she had to have heard his answer or she soon would and this would do a number on her already scarred and bitter psyche. Frisco leaned over and said "You did what you had to; she isn't going to blame you."

"You don't know your daughter." Was all he said before the words on the screen started to come in clearer now that the fog in his head was starting to dissipate.

Frisco flinched because that was the truth, he would hope that Maxie would understand but he had read her file, he knew what she had been up to for the last few years and he wasn't at all thrilled with the way his daughter was behaving.

Franco saw the red headed lawyer nudge the dark haired woman and turned around to see their interest was in Sam whose hair now seemed to be falling in strips around her head. "Well, well, Sammy, interesting look you have going on."

Sam had been keeping her eyes closed to hide her anger and resentment at what was going down. First, Franco had known things about Jason and Elizabeth she had never even heard of, and then there was the way Jason had stood up to the man and put someone other than Sonny or Carly first.

When her boyfriend had shot Michael to save Jake, she had taken it as a good sign that it meant he was doing what he had to. But she saw the looks of glee in people's eyes in spite of their fear and she was worried that in the end, she was going to win but lose.

As she looked at her hair, Sam wiped away the tears but thought about it, she knew that if she could blame it on Franco, Jason would feel guilty and that would give her more time, more of a chance to fix what had happened between them.

She had been feeling down, but then she had see Nik and knew that Jason after what had happened with Emily, would never be able to stomach being around Elizabeth' newest child. So all she had to do was convince him that his son, that Jake shouldn't be around Nik either. She would soon be playing Mommy to his son.

Arriving at Elizabeth's studio, Jason winced when he saw Sonny tied up but what really scared him was who was also there. Carly…Dante looked at the twosome then at Jason and said "What is going on?"

"I don't know." He said then repeated the question out loud.

"Since these are the two who you have put above the woman you love for so long, I thought we would have two going on at the same time. First we deal with here, then the two in the studio, Mr. Morgan. Do I let you save Mr. Spinelli or Ms. McCall?"

"Spinelli." He said before he had even finished saying Sam's name. The woman in the glass box was stunned but figured he knew he would need the younger man to free her.

"Interesting choice, so okay Spinelli is safe." Sam felt the gas coming up into her box then realized it was just something non lethal as she fell asleep. Alexis felt sick, she got the feeling that whatever that was; it wasn't as innocuous as it looked.

Spinelli saw the look on Franco's face just before his wheel was spun at such a force Spinelli was tossed out from it and he soon landed on the stage. "Mr. Spinelli, you may join the rest of the guests."

Before he could even right himself, he was tied up and placed next to Mac Scorpio with a file tossed in the commissioner's lap. "All his misdeeds, I let Mr. Morgan save his life but he can live it out in prison like the rest of the criminals."

Sonny and Carly were sure that Jason would chose Carly after all they had been through but were shocked when he looked at them and turned to leave ignoring their cries of help.

Franco was laughing as the time on their clocks ticked down. He saw that Sonny had thrown up but the piece de resistance was Carly Jacks peeing herself when the clock was at one second.

The two were soon electrocuted with just enough juice to shock them into unconsciousness but leaving them alive. Dante stood outside, he regretted what had been done, but he got why Morgan had done it. That had been the test; Elizabeth or the two Morgan had turned his life over to.

"Mr. Morgan, why don't you take a long road to nowhere and find two very lovely pieces of art. One a beautiful woman, the other a marble statue of a little girl, oh and you only have fifteen minutes."

As Morgan drove, he was cursing as he realized that if he had had his bike he would have made it but the large SUV wasn't as agile or as responsive to the touch.

Hitting the breaks as he pulled up, he was soon over the fence with the others but stopped as he saw the topiary maze in front of him. "Spread out and yell if you find them."

The four men were soon in the maze, Johnny going right, Dante taking the left trail leaving Ethan to go with Jason straight towards the center as they rushed back and forth, calling out Elizabeth's name, as night started to fall.

Finally arriving at the center first, Johnny went to free the beautiful young mother when he realized whatever was going on, they needed Morgan for. Calling out, he soon was joined by Ethan then Dante when Jason showed up carrying something.

"What is that?" snapped the cop only for Jason to say "I had a feeling I might need this."

When they reached the center of the maze, all they could see was the building and Jason cursed when he realized it was a crypt with four doors each with a grilled window. The four of them were trying to get into it, all trying a different lock on a different side of the building when Jason realized what he was smelling in the air.

Cursing, he shouted. "Gasoline."

Johnny had been planning on shooting the lock but quickly put away his gun while Ethan looked at Morgan from around the corner and said "In the past, how did you get in?"

"I picked the lock." He growled then realized that he could hear something over the open mic and felt his heart stop when he got what Franco was shouting.

"Jacks, you bastard, I told you, not to harm her." He said as he walked over to the man tied to the wheel.

The blond in the audience felt sick when he heard his brother drawl "I didn't. I just set it up for you to do it. Morgan was too good; I knew he would get to her. And this time, I wasn't going to fail. I wasted all that time, taking out Sam, going after Sonny and I missed the best way to get to the man with no weaknesses."

Bobbie and Alexis both felt sick as they realized what he had done while Audrey stood in spite of the man with the gun and said as clear and calmly as she could. "If you don't get my granddaughter out of this, I swear to god, Morgan is the least of your worries."

"Audrey, sit down." Hissed Edward while Tracy fretted as she realized that if Jason didn't get her free there was a good chance they all would die.

Meanwhile, Dante was thinking about all he had read in the files and said "Morgan, I have an idea."

"Then do it." He snapped as he beat on the door shouting for Elizabeth and letting her know they would get her out unaware that she was watching the whole thing from inside. Thinking on what had been said by Jerry Jacks; she wiggled to free her hands and just prayed.

Dante had returned from the car and prayed before setting the building on fire as Jason screamed at him to stop. Sure enough, the window with the grill blew out and he dived in cutting his arm deeply but reaching the Webber woman.

"Elizabeth, you need to trust me." He said looking her in the eyes, then freeing her he held her head below the flames and then when they reached the window, Dante eased her out then followed himself.

Jason tried to pick her up, but Elizabeth shrugged off his hands and let Johnny help her walk out on her own just as the crypt blew. Watching the flames, Elizabeth said under her breath. "I have come full circle."

Jason flinched and just walked beside her as they drove her to her grandmothers. Elizabeth wouldn't say a word other than to say she needed to see her boys. Arriving, she thanked them then looked at Jason when he awkwardly said. "Kelly Lee is inside."

With a sad and bitter laugh, she replied. "okay." Then walked to the door without a backwards glance as far as Jason knew, but the moment she was inside she looked out but they were already gone.

Steven saw her entering and went to hug his sister just as Jake and Cam saw their mommy from where they were watching cartoons with Morgan. After the quick family reunion, Steven lead her upstairs to her grams room mentioning that Georgie was asleep in her bed.

Nodding silently, she saw her Aunt Simone and Kelly waiting for her. Steven hugged her and said "I hope that you are okay, no matter what."

Reaching out, she held onto his hand then said "I'm not pregnant."

"I know." He said sadly. "Or rather I suspected. When you are done getting checked out, we will have plenty of time to talk."

"Good, and I saw Maxie downstairs, don't let her leave until I have had a word with her." Stated Elizabeth as she went to let herself get checked out.

Meanwhile Sonny and Carly were toted off to GH and checked out. Sonny was furious when Matt Hunter told him that his son was going to need some time to rehabilitate his ankle but other than that he had walked away unscathed from his ordeal.

Carly was sitting in the waiting room, her body numb but her mind racing as she tried to figure this out. Why had Franco done this? Why had Jason just left them and most importantly what was the best way to get through to Jason what an ass he was making of himself.

He needed to let Sam die as far as she was concerned and then to share custody of Jake with Elizabeth, as for this nonsense about Cameron, that was obviously a set up to scare Jason even more.

Nothing else would explain it. She knew that Jason wouldn't cheat on Courtney; she also knew that Elizabeth ran a test for Cam. There had to be another explanation, like that Lucky had altered the results for some reason. Yes, that was it, Lucky had done this.

As they arrived at the gallery minus Jason, Ethan said "I am not so sure what he is doing is the right thing."

Shaking his head, Dante replied. "If I don't have a problem with it, neither should either of you."

Inside, Mac felt his hands suddenly move as the rope loosened then saw Frisco was looking at the wall. Not seeing anything, he quickly looked around and finally saw what had gotten the man's attention as Morgan was now behind Franco.

Knocking the iPod out of his hand, he told the guards to put down their weapons or he would kill the artist. "Go ahead, kill me." The dark haired man said defiantly. "Either way, I win."

Mac and Frisco disarmed the guards behind them as Max and Roy did the same to theirs while Johnny, Ethan and Dante all entered with weapons drawn. Ethan cutting his father's hands free without even looking down.

Just when it looked like it would be a standoff, Luke cut Jax free and got a gun away from the guard while Jax did the same. Freeing Felicia, Frisco handed her his knife and ordered her to free the remaining 'guests; and to get them the heck out of there.

"No one move." Said the state police as they rushed into the room. Soon the men in black along with Franco were in custody. As they cut Jerry Jacks free, he grabbed the trooper and held him in front of him before heading towards the back door.

Jason just glared at the man, and then called Milo who was waiting. "You know what to do if he gets close to my family."

"Yes, sir." He replied while sighting his weapon on the building. When the slippery snake came out, he kept a close eye on him then waited for the shot. The high powered rifle didn't make a sound as he shot the man once in the forehead and once in the heart as he fell to the ground.

Packing his weapon away, Milo went to GH where Jason wanted him to keep a close eye on Sonny until his replacement arrived. He knew there would be fallout from shooting Michael and he wanted someone he trusted to have his back and there was few guards Milo would let relieve him.

Inside the building it was bedlam as the state police had to restrain Mac Scorpio from strangling Nicolas Cassadine while an ambulance took Sam to the hospital with Spinelli riding shot gun.

Jason cursed; he had wanted a word with the geek. As he went to check on those he cared about, he got a cool greeting from most of them. He knew that things weren't good when the person who was happiest to see him was Tracy.

Edward just shrugged off his helping hand as the elderly man tried to stand and Monica soon had him in an ambulance along with Epiphany who looked at Jason and said "Give it time, when they know the truth, try talking to them again."

Walking away, he saw Luke listening to one of the men in suits and as he moved closer he got an earful as the man explained that Lucky was in the Attica hospital being treated for gunshot wound to both his knees.

Diane, Kate and Olivia were talking to Dante while Mike was being freed by Johnny. The gambler approached Jason and shouted at him. "How could you shoot Michael, how you could do that to that boy?"

Just looking at him with a blank expression, Jason said "I did what had to be done."

As he walked away, he saw family members hugging and others were rushing to check on loved ones and he went over to where Nicolas was being arrested and whispered. "I am not finished with you."

"Fuck off, Morgan." He snapped as the officer led him off the stage. Stopping at the wall, Jason saw the various people leaving and reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. With a sad grimace, he was heading out the back door when he saw something on the wall that looked familiar.

Approaching it, he closed his eyes in pain when he pieced together the collage that Franco had made. Photos of Elizabeth, photos of them together. There were pieces of a drawing all around one dark painting in the center. Jason realized it was "The Wind" and that it had been destroyed. Reaching out, he touched the circle he knew to be the Ferris wheel, the wiping his tears away, went to check on his family.

At the Hardy house, as soon as Elizabeth had been okayed to move around by Kelly, she went looking for a short blond trouble maker. Glad to see the boys were downstairs she saw Maxie in the hallway.

"We need to talk." She said grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her into the darkness of the back yard. "I want some straight answers, little girl or so help me…"

With a bitter laugh, Maxie said "I don't give a crap what you want. Leave me alone."

Reaching out, Elizabeth pressed her back against the tree that Lucky had climbed all those years ago and said "No that is what you should have done to me. I never did anything to you, I had reason to, but I didn't and yet you hurt me, you hurt my children, for what?"

"Look, I don't hate you anymore." Said Maxie.

"What? So I am supposed to suddenly forget all the crap you have done? I am supposed to do what? Forgive you. I don't give a crap whether you are telling the truth or not. You have come after me for the last time, Maxie. I heard what happened, I heard Mac chose Georgie, and do you know why he did that? He did that because he like the rest of us can't help wondering what gives you a right to be a bitch."

"You should talk." She snapped. "What about what you did to Lucky?"

"Which time? The time he stood me up and I ended up in the park raped? The time I saved his family from Helena Cassadine by drinking poison. The time I walked away from the man I loved to help him after he was brainwashed? There are so many times I did thing to Lucky, at least in his mind."

"If you are talking about Nik or Jason, I don't owe you anything but let me give you a bit of advice. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and frankly Maxie your house is already full of cracks from the inside. Now stick to Georgie's room and stay the hell away from my boys and me."

Walking back inside, Elizabeth let the door slam behind her and shook her head as she tried to calm down. "Are you okay?"

Seeing Annie and her grandmother, she hugged them while the tears ran down her face. "Yes, I am getting there."

As the hostages arrived at GH, Sonny was ready to pounce on Jason, instead he was told to get the hell out of there by Tracy while Jax went to check on his wife. Seeing Carly sitting alone, he said "Are you okay?"

"No. I mean, I think I am more than know it." She said with a heavy sigh. "Jason isn't coming is he?"

"My guess is that he went wherever Elizabeth and her sons are." He said truthfully. "Then he will go after Jerry."

"Jerry's dead." Stated Harper as he walked into the room. "It happened while you were all being freed. I came to find out what all of you knew about it."

"Nothing." Said Jax, "Have you talked to Nicolas Cassadine, it seems he knows more than he is telling."

Not wanting to tell them, but seeing his boss approaching he let Mac know, "Cassadine escaped."

"How?" he snapped as Frisco didn't even stick around for the answer. He had a damn good idea where the Greek Prince was going and he had no intention of letting him escape.

Harper said "Cruz is gone as well."

Luke was on Spoon Island when Nik arrived via the hidden passage and he stared at the man in front of him and said "Why?"

Nik brushed past him and said "Which question or rather answer are you looking for."

"All of them, why kill Emily? For starters, I thought you loved her." He said looking at the man who in that moment resembled his father.

"The ball, I had been doing business with some men, she overheard me talking about it, I convinced her that I was planning a surprise for her. I wouldn't have had to kill her but she saw me meeting with Trevor Lansing."

"So after all she did for you, you killed her?"

"I had been having blackouts, those were real, I honestly didn't remember killing her until after my surgery." He said then looking at Luke. "What next?"

"Elizabeth, why do that to Elizabeth?"

"I have always found her attractive and after the stuff with Emily's look alike, I realized that she was perfect for me. Lucky didn't deserve her and he had set me up the perfect alibi."

Seeing Luke's expression, Nik said "We all tend to forget how good my little brother was with a computer. He got the idea from what happened with Lulu, then after Elizabeth's aborted trip to Italy with Morgan, I guess he decided he wanted her back or rather didn't want Morgan to have her."

"He changed Morgan's drugs, I saw someone had used my pass code just before the fire and pieced together what he was doing. He then did his usual half ass job of it and I guess it was taking too long for him, since he started drugging Elizabeth. It wasn't that hard to take advantage of it."

"Elizabeth WAS your FRIEND!" he yelled, "Do you realize what you did to your so called friend. She is going to have a reminder of this for the rest of her life."

"No, actually she won't. I am sure she has figured out by now, there is no baby." He said while gathering the rest of what he needed. He had already sent Spencer to Greece, this was his final stop.

"Nicolas, what happened to being better than your family, being a Cassadine people would respect, be proud of?" asked Luke.

"When Helena stole all my money, back when we found the treasure, it wasn't enough. I had to make deals, deals that pulled me in. I have to go, but do me one favor, please tell Elizabeth… tell her that I am sorry for what happened to Jake, I didn't order that, my cousin was responsible for that part. I was trying to save her, you know, I wanted to give her a better life than Lucky would, than that bastard Morgan would."

"What about the Jones girl?" he asked.

"She was supposed to be freed, but her memory wouldn't erase. I was going to send her away, give her a better life after making her forget seeing me with blood on my hands." He stated. "I took care of her; she is going to be fine. It's the least I can do."

Alfred came to the doorway and shot Luke, disabling the man so his master could get away. "It was an honor to serve you, your highness."

"Alfred." Said Nik as he quickly left the Island.

When the police arrived, they saw Luke shot in the back and hauled the man to GH where Patrick reluctantly left Robin to remove the bullet. Telling Bobbie he would be fine, he listened as Lulu cried while Laura once again denied knowing her.

"What a mess." He said before going back to his wife who was fast asleep.

"Patrick, I am so sorry." Said Lisa as she wiped tears. "For you to have to go through all of that…"

"I am fine, Lisa." He snapped. "If you will excuse me, my WIFE needs me."

Lisa growled then felt herself spun around to face a woman with long dark hair and then heard the woman say "If you don't leave my daughter and son-in-law alone, you are not going to like where you end up."

"Who are you?"

"Anna Devane, Robin's mother and someone you don't want to mess with." She snapped before turning to Sonny who was walking down the hallway. "Do me a favor; let the good doctor here know what I am capable of."

Sonny just looked at the blond and said "Give it up, Patrick loves her. Things have been rocky for the last few months, but you don't stand a chance and yes, Anna can make you disappear."

Rolling her eyes, she pissed off the mobster who was already having a bad night. Moving closer he hissed. "Don't you dare disrespect me. As fast as Anna could make you go away, I could do it in a way that you would never come back from."

A bit frightened, she called Claire only for her friend to say "I am a bit busy right now and I told you to let this go, find another man."

Jason was outside; hidden by the tree as he watched the Hardy house fill up then start to empty out as Morgan was loaded into an ambulance along with Maxie Jones who was protesting she wanted to go with Georgie.

When Kelly Lee hugged Elizabeth and told her to check in with her tomorrow, Jason hid back further then watched as Steven went into the back of the vehicle with the younger Jones girl.

The house started to settle down, he saw the boys hug their mother then go up to bed with the tall woman he didn't know but that they were calling Aunt Annie.

Feeling more than hearing footsteps, he saw Max, Milo and the rest of the men who had helped tonight. Looking at Dante he said "I would have thought you would be rather busy this evening."

"Mac said to let the Staties handle it." He replied. "Franco took a poison pill on the way to the station saying he would die famous."

Roy looked at Jason and said "Now that she is safe, I am going home."

"Thank you." He said quietly. "For everything you did."

"What happens now, is up to you." He said before shaking hands all around then leaving. Ethan awkwardly said "I gather I should go check on Lulu and my father, make sure he isn't doing anything stupid."

"Ethan, thank you. For your help and for… well being a safe person to the boys." Said Jason as he looked at the upper window with the light on. "I am glad there was someone they trusted during this."

Max and Milo let him know that they had Cody on Sonny and that Jerry was no longer a problem before leaving. "Milo, I thought I told you to watch Sonny?"

"I sort of quit for both of us, a few days ago." Said Max. "We are going to clean up some things then head home."

"Good luck." Said Jason then looked at Johnny and said "What about you?"

"I am sticking around, I get the feeling that the vicious hoard is going to be showing up here tomorrow and I love to find ways to stick it to Sonny. What about you? Are you going to talk to her or stay out here?"

Elizabeth had come around the side of the building, she had seen Jason and had wanted to talk to him but what she heard caused pain that she hadn't been expecting.

Looking up at the window, Jason said softly. "No, I will arrange for her and the boys to be protected, but she is pregnant and right now… my being here isn't going to do either of us any good. Her family seems to have gotten it together, they will be there for her. She is a good mom, and I won't do this again. I can't try with her, not and act as father to that child…"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Johnny said "What kind of man are you?"

Looking at the younger man, Jason said "A man who had done too much, who has lost too much to wait around and be the loser yet again." Walking away, he never saw the woman who dominated his dreams as she fell apart.

It was almost dawn when Johnny went around the building having heard something fall. Seeing Elizabeth sitting against the wall, he lifted her and carried her inside.

Annie was coming down and growled. "What happened? She was going to talk to Morgan? What did he do?"

"He walked away before she even got there." He said quietly as he asked "Which room, she is getting heavy in spite of how light she seemed at first."

Leading the way, Annie watched as he laid her down then once he left said "You can stop faking now."

Sitting up, ashamed Elizabeth said "I just couldn't face him after what I heard."

"Do you want Gail?" she asked gently.

"No, I just… I finally got it, Aunt Annie. I finally understand." She said sadly. "Jason was talking to him and a few others. I heard what he said clear as day."

Getting up, she went to her closet and got out some clothes needing a shower. "You know, Jason raised Michael, who wasn't his, was going to do the same for Sam's baby… yet he couldn't for his own and now…" with a bitter laugh she said "He was asked outright what he was going to do, get this… he left for my own good. According to him, I am a good mom, so…"

Elizabeth fell down crying as she got that Jason would never be there for her, that she wasn't someone who he wanted to be with. Yes, he had rescued her but that was more than likely because of Jake.

Annie got Simone and they sat down beside the tormented nurse and held her while she cried. An hour later, Elizabeth was showered and dressed along with her boys as they went to GH to take some samples to send out for some tests elsewhere.

At GH, Jason saw Michael was asleep and shook him roughly. "Don't even think of following in Sonny's footsteps and after last night and what you did, don't look for me, because as far as I am concerned you have turned out just like AJ."

Leaving, Jason saw Sonny and Carly bearing down on him and said "Carly, I am not in the mood and frankly if I were the two of you I would stay away right now. And Sonny, I turned over my stock in the company to John Zachara."

"How dare you? You have no right and then to shoot Michael, this is all that bitch…" Sonny was on his ass before he realized it. Spitting out his front teeth, he went to make another comment but Claire walked up and said "Sonny Corinthos you are under arrest for jury tampering and threatening a federal judge."

Carly watched as Sonny was forced to stand then saw Jason walking toward Spinelli. When he slugged the boy, she cheered thinking maybe just maybe things would get back to normal but instead was disappointed as she heard what the nerd was shouting.

"But I did it for you, I wanted you to be happy and Sam, the goddess makes you happy. You know she is the best woman in the…"

Mac watched from Georgie's door then went back into the room while hoping the prison dentist was off that day as once again a former friend of Morgan's lost teeth. He knew that Harper was planning on arresting the geek as soon as the judge signed the warrant.

He looked at Maxie who wasn't speaking to him as she sat next to Georgie and went to find Felicia who was talking to Bobbie and Lulu. "How is Laura doing?"

"Her memories are starting to come back." Said Bobbie then asked if he had heard about Luke.

"That he is recovering from being shot."

"Lulu, a minute of your time." Said Harper who told her. "You are required to begin your community service today."

"I can't, my mother…" she snapped only for Harper to tell her that "The judge knows, he thinks you can spare a couple of hours this afternoon. If you don't show up, you will be arrested."

Jason in the mean time was in Sam's room staring at the woman. "Jason, you came."

His lips twitching from an urge to laugh, he said "I had to."

"I knew it, you wouldn't abandon me, not when I need you so much." She said beaming.

"Sam, we need to talk, there are a few things I need to tell you." He stated then said "I know you are aware of the notes that Spinelli sent me, what you weren't aware of was that I was taking a migraine medication. Someone with computer experience messed with it; instead I was drugged with the same drug given to Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth?" she parroted then thought about the trial and felt herself swell as she got ready to rant.

"Yes we were given the drugs. I am sorry for any promises I made you will under the influence, I did some stuff that under normal circumstances I wouldn't have. Getting back with you was one of them."

"But you told me you loved me that I would make a good mother… I was hoping we could raise Jake, together, be a real family." She said tears flowing down her face.

Jason looked at her and said "Sam, I am sorry, but I didn't mean it, at least not like you took it. I was hurting and you were there, that was all there was to it."

"How can you do this to me?" she asked hoarsely. "After all I have been through…"

Looking at her, he said "And what about what you did, what you did to my son, to Elizabeth, the woman I …"

"Don't you dare say that?" She hissed, "Don't you dare tell me you love her, after all she ran and I stayed. I am the one who fits your life; I am the one who will kill for you."

Jason looked at her and realized the soft approach wasn't going to work and made plans for her to be taken out, one last deed he could do for his family before he left.

"Sam, my job isn't my life… you want my job so bad, so see Johnny maybe he will hire you to do it. But I am done, I am leaving here and after I walk out that door, if I see you, I will kill you." He had no intention of letting her live but knew enough not to give her warning as to what was about to come, at least he knew that Milo would do a good job with it. This was one body that would never be found.

Elizabeth and the boys were surrounded by men with guns as they were escorted into GH. Seeing Max standing to the side she snapped "Is this really necessary after what we have been though?"

"For now, Nik escaped." He said and Elizabeth realized that the danger was still out there.

Max hated to use Elizabeth as cover, but Milo and he had a job to do before leaving town.

Checking in on Robin, she was glad to see her friend holding her daughter as they played patty cake with Patrick looking less than amused at the giggling looks coming his way from his wife.

Leaving, they saw Mac talking to the Spencers and wanting to avoid a scene Elizabeth asked Epiphany at the hub for Sam's room, there was another person she wanted to have words with.

Milo was following her while Steven, Audrey and the boys were heading to his office. Annie was following Elizabeth well aware of the landmines that still surrounded her niece.

As she was heading to the room, Elizabeth saw Spinelli and decided to let him have it while she was in a confrontational mood but the door behind him opened just as Harper called out to the geek.

Seeing Jason leaving Sam's room, she froze then looked at him and said "Well I guess that answers that question."

"Elizabeth, please we need to talk…" While Spinelli was gleefully once again putting two and two together and getting eight.

"About what, exactly?" she asked.

"Jake and how it is a possibility I am Cam's father."

"Sure, but I want to have a word with Sam, first."

"No, this has to happen now." He said quietly.

Looking at the woman with the rash and splotches of hair, she said "I will be with you in a minute."

Jason went down the hall then asked if she would be willing to let them get a DNA test for Cam.

"We are doing one as we speak." She said then saw him look at his phone then tell someone to take care of it before looking at her and asking where.

Leading him to Steven's office, she waited until they had taken samples from them both then went to find Jason who had left earlier. Epiphany was at the hub and said "Elizabeth, Jason left you a note."

"I will be back for it in a moment." Walking to Sam's room, she saw the empty bed and knew… going back to the hub, she asked for the note with a dead voice then after reading it crumpled it.

Tossing it in the trash, she walked to the new chapel and slipped past the police tape and sat down and cried as she recalled the simply worded message that had started and ended with goodbye.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 13

Two months later, things were still up in the air from the Franco debacle.

Elizabeth was slowly working on putting her life back together with the support of her family and the Quartermaines. There were some bumps; mainly those Jason had left behind when he had taken Sam and disappeared and of course a few members of the Spencer family.

Walking to the hub, she pretended to be nauseated when Patrick leaned down to kiss his wife and leered saying "Get a room."

"We would but your brother threatened to charge us." Said a smiling Robin as she patted Patrick's shoulder and said "I will be fine, go hover over our daughter at home."

Pretending to growl, he instead pulled her back into his arms and dipped her like he was Fred Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers so he could lay a quick kiss on her.

Once the surgeon had gone home, she asked "I gather surgery went well."

"Patient will live, but I am going to find the on call room, I hate having late night surgery then rounds the next day." Yawning the doctor when she saw Lulu coming their way. "Trouble at ten o'clock."

Lulu was stopped by Cody and was told to go home only for the blond to insist that Elizabeth talk to the judge. "You owe me."

"I owe you nothing and like I told the man, I wouldn't believe you if you did publicly say you were sorry because you aren't." she snapped. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be showing up at my work every other day to verbally attack me."

Lulu stomped away, she had to work her community service hours and didn't want to be late because they would just add it on at the other end, Arriving at the sight, she flushed as she put on the yellow vest that read Lulu Spencer and that she had been charged with perjury before joining the losers she had to work with.

Hearing the horn honks and cat calls, she wiped her tears and started stabbing the trash. A reporter for the local news had recently done a story on the trash pickers and they had been dealing with a lot of extra attention lately.

Mac was helping Georgie as she headed into the rehab area when he saw Michael Corinthos and managed to overhear what the boy was saying and decided that enough was enough.

"Georgie, I have to deal with someone, are you going to be okay from here?"

With a smile, she said "I told you I would be fine coming in from the car, dad. Stop worrying so much."

With a wry grin, he said "You have to remember, I lost you for a while, it is going to take some time to stop treating you like you are seven again and determined to walk to school on your own,."

Approaching Michael, he said "Are you finished with your rehab?"

Glaring at the man responsible for his father being in prison, he just went to walk away but Mac grabbed his arm then said "I was talking to you and as you are on probation, you have to answer my question."

Michael wanted to refuse but Alexis had made it very clear that doing so could end with him in jail. "I am, I am going home like a good little boy." He sneered only for Mac to say "I will escort you and Corinthos, I heard what you were telling your guard and if I see either of you or anyone else who worked for your dad near her, I will arrest you again, do you understand me?"

Rolling his eyes, Michael got into the back seat of the limo pissed he couldn't drive but Mac had been vindictive and done some checking. There was no proof that Michael had taken the test for his permit, let alone the class needed to get his license, he had been ordered to do so if he wanted to drive.

Once at home, he was lectured yet again by his mother who had gotten a call from Mac regarding his conduct. "Leave me alone."

"No!" she snapped "I am your mother and I deserve your respect."

"For what, driving Uncle Jason away, so he was with Sam, at least he was around." Complained the boy. "Now because of you, he is gone and dad is in jail. Your threw away his friendship for what? A boy you don't even know and that no one cares about. Besides, Sam wasn't that bad."

"I can't believe you." She said in shock at how he was acting. "What if people had thought that about AJ after he kidnapped you? I just don't get why you don't understand why I am angry."

When Michael had stormed up to his room, Carly sat down at the table as she called Spinelli and asked for an update on Jason's whereabouts.

"He and the goddess were traced to Cancun." He said then went to see his attorney. "When can I get access to my computer again?"

The public defender looked at his client and snapped "You can't. You are only allowed to use the public computers with supervision, I wouldn't count on be allowed near a computer without supervision for at least a year."

Leaving, Spinelli went back to the penthouse, growling as all he had to work on was his hand held which they had missed during the search warrant to seize his computers. Reading the file he had found once again, he grinned and hoped that his friends were taking the time out to enjoy themselves in between searching for the missing Prince.

Elizabeth saw Spinelli when she entered the diner and hoped he had the sense to stay away. The nerd was working there since he was without an income from his PI agency and couldn't do anything with computers. Mike had hired him but Bobbie had made it very clear that one wrong word and he was done.

"Elizabeth, thanks for meeting me." Said Monica standing to hug her grandsons. "How are you doing?"

"I'm getting there." She said with a smile. "I still have no answers in regards to how Cameron is Jason's but otherwise, I am moving on and getting my mind together."

"I was hoping you would be willing to spend Mother's day with us at the house." She asked holding her breath.

"Sure, the boys and I would love that." She said with a sad smile. "Did you hear that Grams is going to help Gail with Lee?"

"Alzheimer's is a scary thing. I know that Annie is back in Florida to pack up the rest of her stuff, are you going to be okay without help for the boys?"

"I have Steven and well Bobbie has been great along with a certain sixteen year old." She admitted. "I still can't believe that one."

"She is more like her mother used to be." Said Diane as she joined them. "Elizabeth, we really need you to make a decision."

"I don't want it, I told you that before." She replied gently but firmly. "Jason can take his money and …"

"We got that." Said Monica. "I just don't want Carly or another one of the sycophants that surround my son to get access to the money."

Tracy had admitted the truth regarding Lila's then Alan's will after all that had happened. She had then filed for a divorce from Luke and had left for Europe. None were sure if she was nursing a broken heart or just plotting something but Brooklynn was now living at the mansion and driving Lulu crazy by flirting with Ethan.

"Part of me is so angry, then I come here and that pest starts talking about how Jason and Sam are together and I get so angry even though I know there is a good chance he is lying." She said sadly "But at the same time, he has done it before, look at what happened with us during the Courtney years."

Hugging Elizabeth, Diane said "Spinelli should be in jail, for what he has done but in the end, he is going to get his, especially if you claim the penthouse like I suggested."

When the three ladies had had lunch and paid their bill, Elizabeth walked to the docks, then checked on her old studio before going to get her car which was still parked by Kelly's. "Elizabeth, can we talk?"

Turning to see Georgie as she painfully eased onto a chair in front of the diner, Elizabeth sat across from the younger girl and said "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to say… thank you for what you said to Lulu the other day." She stated. "Then for her to attack you, accuse you of having an abortion and saying it was wrong for you to kill a child, I just wonder, does she think before she talks, ever?"

"She was wrong for attacking you and as for what she said to me… half the town believes that." She stated. "How are you doing?"

"I am walking better but I get tired easily. Your brother said the drugs are out of my system and now it is all about regaining my strength and stamina."

"I know that Dillon has been calling, how are you dealing with that?"

"You know, that is what I really wanted to talk to you about." She said shyly. "I talked to him, he wanted to come home but I convinced him I am not ready but in truth…"

"You are over him and don't want to hurt his feelings?" she asked.

"Exactly what is going on." She admitted. "It's hard because we once meant so much to one another and now… I just see the man who slept with Lulu, who let her lead him around by the nose ever after she had lied to him."

"What about Spinelli?"

"His Sam obsession and this constant need to beg Maxie for forgiveness turns my stomach at the idea I have ever thought I could have feelings for him." She said looking sick even as she said it. "Maxie is done with him, she asked Kate Howard for a job out of town."

"Are you going back to college this fall?" she asked then saw Dante and Harper approaching. "Don't look now, but your dad has sent the law after you."

Chuckling, Georgie said "I have seen more of my dad's men in the last two months than I ever did before I died. Or rather…" they both started laughing as they realized what she said.

Dante smiled at the picture then saw his sister talking to their youngest brother who carrying something too big for him to hold. Walking over he saw the art project and asked "What do you have there?"

Krissy pulled him off to the side and said "I saw this painting once, it was Jason's. That man had it and since there won't be a trial, I asked Mac for it so I could fix it for Jason, but then Molly saw the signature and tried to ruin it. We were trying to find a place to hide it until I can finish."

"What signature, did Franco sign it?" he asked then was shown the EW and winced as he got it. Molly had been one of the biggest pains in regards to Elizabeth and her family. The little girl was crowing loud and long about her fantasy that Jason and Sam had run away to elope like their life was some fairy tale.

She had verbally assaulted Elizabeth several times, suggesting she leave so that the so-called tragic lovers could return to their hometown and their family insisting they were there first. She had gotten quite a shock when Bobbie Jones had sat her down and told her that Elizabeth's family had started Port Charles and General Hospital and that the Cassadines were the ones who had come last.

She had then said well the Quartermaines… only to be told differently on that one as well. Her life had become even more complicated when Ric had come to town to let Alexis know he was married but still wanted to take Molly for the summer.

The younger girl has pouted saying that her sister was coming home then only for Alexis to put her foot down and insist she go with her father.

Krissy waited until Morgan had gone with his guard before whispering to Dante "Molly is convinced that everyone is lying about Sam and since Mom won't let her hear the whole thing, she is getting a lot like Dad used to be."

Seeing his confusion, she explained about Ric then flushed when she recalled she had called Ric dad. Dante just hugged her and said "I will take care of the painting."

"Thanks." She said before leaving it with him. She had a therapy session with her new doctor and things were going much better now. She still wondered what had happened to Lainey, all she had heard was the woman had lost her medical license for something.

As Rae listened to the young girl as her session wrapped up, she said "I think we can move the sessions to when you need me. You have been doing well."

Looking at the woman, she said "I feel a lot stronger. Talking to others has helped. I get that I am not the only one."

When the girl had left, Rae wrote her report just as her phone rang. "I am sorry, but I can't treat Mr. Corinthos."

After listening again, she said "Dr. Winters is unable to treat patients at this time; I believe she is in jail." When the group of Tom, Simone, Kevin and herself had finished going through Lainey's records, they had found quite a mess.

Private patients who were paying cash, like Corinthos and his family had complete files that listed every appointment, every session, whereas she would file only what was needed for her patients with insurance and any one else there was even less.

The police had on a parallel investigation had found almost two hundred grand and that her student loans had been paid off rather ahead of schedule. The money had tracked back to Cassadine accounts and she had been fired then arrested as the State Medical Board had taken over GH since Nicolas had fled.

Elizabeth arrived at her grandmothers house then went to check on the boys where helping Steven build something. "What are you three doing?"

Looking up with a guilty expression, Cam quickly looked at the tools and said "Mommy yous have to go away, you can't be out here right now."

Jake stood and said "Close your eyes Mommy."

Walking backwards, with her eyes covered she felt a body behind her and said "Johnny or Dante?"

"Actually both." Replied the man behind her as he winked at Cam who giggled then turned Elizabeth around assuring the young boy "I will make your Mommy come in and help us, how 'bout that?"

Once inside, Elizabeth said "I gather that pile of wood and bolts is my mother's day gift?"

"I think so." Said Dante from the sofa. "I uh, need to show you something, is this yours?"

Turning the painting around, he saw her expression and said "Do you know why Molly thought it was Jason's."

"It is sort of. I painted it, then when Jake was missing I destroyed it but I had given it to Jason, he just never took it. How did you end up with it?"

"Franco had it, it was part of what was going to be his masterpiece." Said the cop. "Do you want me to have it fixed?"

"No, you can throw it out." She said feeling a sense of relief to know that while it hurt it wasn't debilitating. Then looking at Johnny said "Why are you here?"

"I am here because… actually I am not here." He said with a smirk. "I am on a plane to South America if you ask Spinelli."

"He is still using a computer?" she asked disgusted.

"We can't prove it but I think so." Dante said.

"Anyhow, I heard from Diane Miller that you own that penthouse and I was hoping you would sell it to me." Diane had successfully sued Jason on her behalf while she was missing and had gotten her custody of the penthouse and quite a bit of Jason's legal funds.

"I don't want it, but it would be good to get Spinelli out." She said with a wicked grin. "I want to see it though. I heard that Maxie redecorated."

"Bordello meets Barbie meets teen dreams idea of a home." Said Johnny with a wide grin. "It is a mess. First thing I do is rip out the walls, open it up a bit then remodel the upper floor, one bedroom and room for my piano."

"I want the purple sofa, for Brooklynn's new place." Said a chuckling Dante as he added "That way, when Lulu is trailing her brother to keep him out of her clutches, she can be pissed off all over again on his behalf."

"You can explain that one later." Said Elizabeth as she called Diane and agreed to the sale only to find she had already drawn up the papers. "I will sign them as soon as they…"

Johnny was handing them to her even as she spoke. Handing them back, she said "Go for it."

Jason woke up and had to look around to figure out where he was. Sitting up, he looked at Frisco Jones and said "How long was I asleep?"

"A couple of hours." He replied then yawning said "He came to the surface but he had Spencer with him."

"I want him, I want to drag him back to Port Charles and at the same time hurt him." He said before adding. "I just don't get it, I mean even after all Luke told us, I just don't get it."

Frisco had kept part of what Luke had said quiet, wanting Jason to go home to Elizabeth without knowing there was no baby. He wasn't the brightest when it came to women and children, but he knew that if the former enforcer went home now knowing the truth, it would only make the situation with Elizabeth worse.

"Heads up." Said the man on top. "He is up the hatch and by himself."

Jason looked through the binoculars and saw Nik was carrying something as he hurried to the boat. "Got you."

A day later, Spencer was dropped off in Paris where Laura Spencer was now living, no note, nothing but the clothes on his back. She didn't need one, though; she sat in her living room and mourned the little boy she had lost so long ago.

Calling Scott who was in Arizona helping Lee get things sorted out before his mind was completely gone, she was told he would fly in for the funeral but that he had to return to Tempe. "What about Lucky?"

"Laura, the judge is going to barely be willing to let Lulu leave and I guarantee that he refuses to let Lucky out. He is in Attica, they don't let prisoners leave for anything but court." He told the woman.

With a shake of his head, Scott went back to the patio and let the others know. "Do they have a body?"

"The Greek authorities do." He then left well aware that Audrey held Laura partly responsible for the mess her sons had created.

A week later, Lulu was getting off the jet when she thought she saw Jason Morgan exiting in front of her but when she got to the terminal, he wasn't there. Frowning a bit, she went to see Carly and heard her arguing with Michael about something.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked only for Michael to storm away and Carly to sit down and say "He is fighting the trust fund Sonny set up. He has to get a job and work for the money to start."

"What about Jason, can't he access his money?"

"No, Diane Miller has that all tussed up for Jake and Cameron."

"Why would Cameron get anything over Michael? I mean, Lucky is his father."

"No, actually Jason is." Growled Carly. She was still furious that Jason had cheated on Courtney with Elizabeth at some point proving Sonny's paranoid blond sister was right. "There were DNA tests, they were altered then they believe Lucky stole them to cover up the truth."

"Why would…" Lulu remembered something Lucky had once told her while high and growled before saying. "She gets everything she wants, doesn't she?"

"Who?" asked Carly then seeing her expression said "Hey, the truth would have come out years ago without his interference."

"Don't act like you are happy about this." She sneered just as the doorbell rang. "May I help you?"

"I am looking for a Jasper Jacks?" asked the man holding the subpoena. The blond came down the stairs and said "I am Jax."

"You have been served."

Reading it, Jax laughed then called Alexis who said "Come on over."

Arriving at the Lake house after assuring Carly it was just a nuisance lawsuit, he said "What do you make of this?"

"A coma patient at a convent, the tests ran prove you are the father?" she asked laughing.

Molly slipped in, wanting to hear what was going on, she knew that everyone had a secret and wasn't telling her. "Can you drive down and deal with this."

"Carly overreacting as usual?" she asked knowingly. "I actually know this place, it was where I gave birth to Sam."

Thanking her, he went home while Molly took advantage of her mothers gathering her briefcase to slip into the rear of the SUV and hide. Two hours later, she slid into the room while the nun directed her to the right room.

Entering, Alexis froze when she saw Sam in a coma and said to the woman in the outfit "That is my daughter."

"She has been here for almost two and half months. She is almost three and half months pregnant and we need to speak to the baby's father."

"But Jason is missing." Said Molly rushing into the room. "I am sure if he knew that the love of his life was here, he would have been here as soon as possible, that mean woman must have done something to keep them apart."

Alexis flinched as she looked at the chart and realized that the date of conception was well after Jason had gone missing and that Spinelli was more than likely the father.

"Molly, you have to keep this quiet, for now." She said to her daughter on the drive home as she realized from the description that the two men who brought Sam here when she had been fine, bruised but fine at GH had been Max and Milo.

Molly agreed but didn't promise as she vowed to make Elizabeth Webber give up the truth. Sam needed Jason and the mean one had done something to keep them apart.

Alexis made arrangement for Spinelli to be tested without his knowledge and kept a close eye on Molly for the duration. The day she went to get the results she never realized her youngest was in the vehicle with her yet again.

Molly saw her acting like she was helping people and glared, never seeing Dante watching her from the corner. The little girl waited until Elizabeth was back at the hub and entered it walking to where Elizabeth was and reached up and grabbed her ponytail yanking it hard and screaming.

_"Tell me what you did to Jason! Sam needs him, she is having his baby and you won't keep them apart any longer! Now tell me the truth, you just don't want anyone to know you lied then stole his sperm from Sam. You- you homewrecker, I know all about you."_

Elizabeth freed herself before Dante got there but she let the little girl scream. Alexis arrived at the hub at the same time as Steven, Monica and Kelly Lee. Seeing Elizabeth's expression, Alexis said "Sam's pregnant but Jason isn't the father, they were over by then but Molly is having a hard time letting go. Ric is coming to take her to the Island, hopefully he can get through to her."

"Maybe if the two of you told her the truth." Scorned Krissy from the elevator exit where she glared at the man beside her who had said it was up to Alexis if they told Molly, that he had hurt her enough.

Alexis saw Dante approaching and was furious when the man said "You can't take her with you, I am sorry Alexis, but this isn't her first attack against Elizabeth and I think drastic measures are required."

Seeing Mac returning from lunch as they entered the station, Alexis plead with him to help her little girl. "Dante arrested her."

"What did Kristina do?" he asked then listening told her "I gave him permission to do that if she attacked Elizabeth or her kids again. If it wasn't for Jake's guard, she would have hurt him in the park the other day. Alexis, it is time for that little girl to be told the truth, the whole truth before someone gets hurt."

"I won't do that. I can't ruin Sam in her eyes, she is all that Molly has to respect right now. Ric has another child and she isn't dealing well with it."

"Alexis, she is a Sam in the making… combine that with Ric's genes and you need to be honest. Otherwise ten or fifteen years from now, we are going to have another person locked in a panic room."

JASON had watched from the shadows and seen Molly attacking Elizabeth. He had been about to approach the scene when he saw that Elizabeth must have had another miscarriage and froze.

When the rest of the group had taken care of things, he had left needing to clear his head. Driving his new bike up the cliff roads, he stopped at what was now an overgrown maze and saw the statue at the beginning of it.

Sitting down, he wept at all he had lost and what could never be. Falling asleep, he dreamed of a night when he had almost had it all, then went home to the woman he hadn't realized he didn't love until it was too late.

_Jason watched as Elizabeth slept, his mind racing from what he had learned. He could still hear Carly and Courtney as the blond confessed to hitting Elizabeth while his heart had stopped as he stared at the blond he was engaged to and had realized he didn't love her, at least he wasn't in love with her. _

_When she got to the part about the baby and started to blame him, Jason was once again reminded of Elizabeth's miscarriage and how this had all began. But it was too late, he had lost her and now had to deal with fixing this mess before it brought down the whole organization. Later he would mourn that child that would never be and the woman he could never have._

_Reaching out, he brushed back the curl that had come over Elizabeth's white bandage and listened as she moaned at the darkness. Holding her hand to comfort her, Jason was shocked when she reached out in her sleep to pull it closer and called out his name, his name, not Ric's._

_Knowing he was playing with fire, Jason reasoned that a simple kiss wouldn't hurt, after all he had kissed her before… but when he had been meaning to kiss the side of her mouth, Elizabeth's head turned and he had ended up kissing her lips._

_Astounded as the kiss turned into the most carnal of his life, Jason pulled back feeling guilty about taking advantage of her while she was sick and asleep but then she once again whispered his name and he was lost as he leaned in to kiss her again._

_When he felt her hands in his hair and then her tongue teasing his, Jason didn't care that it was wrong, he just wanted this one chance, this one time to hold the woman that would never be his._

_Easing up next to her so they could kiss without hurting their necks, Jason soon was lying down next to Elizabeth and kissing his way down her neck. Reaching for the ties at the back of her gown, he just told himself, one look, then he would tie them back up._

_An eternity later as his mouth lifted from where he was currently tasting the most delicious skin, he felt her hand guiding him back to her breasts before easing under his shirt. When she had raised it as high as she could, he gave her tip one last tug then eased back to remove it and toss the t-shirt on the chair._

_Jason found himself fighting his instincts as he felt her hand encircling him moments later. "Elizabeth, are you sure?"_

_Hearing her breath yes, he knelt and was removing her panties when he saw the bruises and felt sick but before he could disengage, he was pulled back down and felt her body moving underneath him._

_Counting to ten as he felt sick at what he was doing, Jason saw she was close to coming and being careful not thrust inside, sent her over the edge. When he saw she had fallen back to sleep, he awkwardly lifted himself off of her and went to the bathroom to wipe away the seepage and sat there crying as he realized how far he had almost lost himself._

_Too have treated Elizabeth, the one woman he would die for that way… to almost take advantage of her while she was drugged up and blind… leaving he rushed home and showered before walking to his bedroom. _

_Seeing Courtney there with evidence of tears on her pillow, all he wanted was to escape as he felt guilt once again. She didn't deserve this, he had told her he loved her, had probably meant it at that moment, but time had cleared his head, shown him what was truly in his heart but tonight he had almost violated that._

_He had crossed a line he had never thought he would as he vowed to do whatever it took to make things right for the two women. For Courtney, he would get her clean and keep her out of jail, then fulfill the promise he had made even if it was now the last thing he wanted._

_As for Elizabeth.. For Elizabeth he would do what he had promised and walk away. He would try to avoid being alone with her so he didn't try to repeat what he had almost done._

When Jason woke up, his mind was recalling feeling Cameron kick that day at the courthouse and he wiped away the tears as he got up to leave. Getting on his bike, he was racing to town, when he wiped out on the bike.

Georgie had driven away from the house, her legs were stronger and she was beginning to feel as trapped as she had all those months locked in the dungeon of Wyndemere. She had approached Alexis about doing something, anything so that the building was no longer standing but the attorney had pointed out that the house belonged to Nicolas so Georgie had gone to Diane Miller at ELQ and asked her to sue the estate so she could stop having to look at the building her captor had called home.

Seeing the lump of metal in the middle of the road, she swerved to miss it and almost hit the man wearing the helmet and lying on the side of the road.

She could smell her brakes smoking as she came to a stop and was almost hit by the car behind her. Seeing Ethan getting out, she said "Check out the rider, I am fine."

Seeing the man wearing the helmet, he moved closer and said "I don't think I should move him."

As another car showed up, Johnny got out and saw the bike and got the feeling it was Morgan. Swearing he looked at Maxie's sister and said "It's Jason, can you keep this quiet?"

Nodding, she said "I don't think there is anyone who should have to deal with his crap anyhow. Do you know that Sam McCall is pregnant?"

"Its not his." He said then saw her smirk. "What?"

"Like that has every stopped him before, he has raised everyone else's kid but his own and we all know that he can't resist pregnant women." She stated feeling bad for Elizabeth. "Don't bring him to GH.

A bit surprised because from what he had heard, she was the nicer Jones sister he was still happy she drove away. Turning to Ethan he said "Help me get him to the safe house."

"You do know that Elizabeth owns it now?" only for Johnny to nod and then say "Maybe we can get them to talk since he is here."

As they went to lift him, Johnny saw the blood under the helmet and said "I think we are going to have to disappoint the woman, he needs Drake."

Meanwhile Molly was arguing with her parents as they sat her down and told her the complete truth about Sam. She just refused to accept it, in her mind she was smarter than the adults who were being taken in by the sweetness that Elizabeth Webber pretended to have.

After all Sam didn't lie, she was with Jason first, and all Elizabeth had done was sleep with him once then try to trap him into marriage but he had been too smart for that.

Ric and Alexis looked at one another after she had gone to her room and realized "She is just like us, a combination of our worst traits."

Looking at him, she asked 'How did you know so much about Elizabeth's disappearance?"

"Audrey called me and said she needed the help of the most devious person she knew who had illegal connections." He said with a wry laugh. "Then asked if I meant it when I said I owed Elizabeth for what I did all those years ago."

"So you helped her get Elizabeth to safety."

"Then was the go between during the various medical tests. I just don't get why Nik faked her being pregnant…"

"Me either." She said looking out the window then back at him. "You truly do seem different."

"It took almost losing Marianna. I arrived in LA just as she was giving birth, I was frantic and then I was holding my son while his mother looked on. I was reminded that I had something to live for, I had a family and Molly."

"What are we going to do about her conviction that Sam is perfect."

"First you need to cut off contact with that geek. I am sure they are feeding on one anothers delusions." He warned. "Mac said if she left Elizabeth alone and attended counseling, he would let her off."

"I know, I talked to Rae Cummings, she is going to work with her, as for Spinelli. He is the father of Sam's baby. I haven't told him yet but I am going to have to." She said.

Molly who had slammed her door like she had gone to her room, then quietly slipped back down ran to the side door and hopped on her bike to see Spinelli.

Arriving at Kelly's, she missed seeing Elizabeth talking to her brother as she ate with her sons and her grams.

"Spinelli, Mommy is telling lies again, she told Daddy you are the father of Sam's baby." She tattled only for the geek to stare at her. "Why aren't you denying it?"

Looking wildly around, he said "I am sorry little one, but it is a good possibility."

"NO! You are lying… you know you are lying." She said before screaming at him to stop lying before rushing out of the diner. Steven was helping them load the boys in the car when they heard the sound of the crash then someone calling out they needed help.

Audrey said "I will take care of the boys." While Elizabeth and Steven rushed to the scene.

"She just came out of nowhere on that bike." Said Carly as she came to the front of her car. All she could see was sneakers and the bike wheels.

"Carly, calm down." Said Elizabeth as she checked her pulse while Steven was grimly discussing things with the emergency personnel. "I need you to tell me, do you remember seeing a helmet, was she wearing one."

"I don't know." She said. "It happened to fast."

They decided the best thing to do would be to lift the car off and remove the little girl then. "Does anyone know who she is?"

One of the firemen, bent down and took a picture of her face and handed it to his boss who handed it to Steven who swore and said "Elizabeth, it is Molly Lansing."

Taking out her phone, Elizabeth called Alexis. "Alexis there was an accident down by Kelly's… it's Molly."

"It can't be, she is in her room." She protested then said "Okay, I will check."

Ric rushed to the room then returned to say "She isn't there and her bike is gone."

Rushing to GH, they saw Molly being checked out by Robin and Steven while Elizabeth returned in fresh scrubs. "Alexis, Ric… she was hit about head level with a car. She wasn't wearing a helmet at the time."

"Where is Patrick Drake, why isn't he checking on her?" she demanded.

Monica had come to GH at the request of Epiphany while Robin pushed past with the gurney and Steven as they rushed the little girl to the operating room. "Monica, I thought you had the day off?" asked Elizabeth as she watched Ric and Alexis pace.

"I called her, I guess this is why you didn't get my message." Said Johnny. "Jason was in town, had an accident and cracked open his head on the old cliff roads."

An hour later, Patrick came out of recovery wishing he didn't have to tell them what he did. "Alexis, I joined in on Molly's surgery. She is going to be fine but she injured her audio lobes severely."

"What are you saying?" asked Carly as she arrived with Jax and Kristina.

Alexis repeated the question then wondered why Carly was there.

"I'm sorry but I think Molly has lost her hearing."

"Patrick, what about Jason?" asked Monica when he had moved away some.

"He is going to be fine, he cut himself on the road, but I was worried about the blood clot, he had expressed concern that it might burst and kill him before the Franco crisis."

"What clot?" asked Elizabeth.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 14

Elizabeth was sitting in the darkened hospital room watching while Jason slept. She could see the road rash on his chin and hoped it hurt like hell. Glaring at the sleeping man, she thought about all she had learned since Patrick had clammed up in regards to the blood clot.

While she had been talking to Epiphany and getting a clearer picture of what had gone down at the safe house, she really just wanted him to wake up, to tell her all the things he seemed to have no problem telling others but found impossible to tell her.

"I know you hate me, but please just give me a chance to explain." Said the hoarse voice from the bed.

"Just what do you think I hate you about?" she said in a curiously calm tone of voice.

"The baby, I am so sorry, Elizabeth… I thought if I stayed with you would be miserable and that you would blame me if anything happened to your baby and you still lost it anyhow." He said while feeling sick to his stomach unaware that her anger came from his leaving.

"If you had bothered to stick around instead of slipping away you would have known I wasn't pregnant." She said coldly. Seeing his head coming up, she continued. "Yes, seems like Nicolas fakes the test results as well as the DNA tests but since you weren't concerned about the ones for your own son, I guess I shouldn't have expected you to care about whether or not I was pregnant with another man's baby, after all I am not Carly or Sam."

Flinching he said "I couldn't stay, you know that, I hate to see you in pain and lately, all I have done is cause you pain. And you are wrong, I asked you to marry me when you didn't even know if Jake was mine but you were the one who said no."

"No, actually I don't know that you couldn't stay. I went to Shadybrook, ended up locked up in a room and not once did you stop in to see the mother of what at the time was your only son. When I was in the hospital recovering from the explosion caused by the inept help of Sam McCall into your investigation into Anthony Zachara, you couldn't be bothered to visit. Yet, when Sam was the patient, not even a restraining order kept you away."

"Don't be like that." He said "You know what you mean to me. What you have always meant to me." Memories of other hospital visits, one in particular were floating through his mind.

"No, actually I don't." she said then looking at him said "I have never known or felt like I was more important than anyone else to you, not even when I was pregnant with your son."

"But then you were still propping up Lucky, so how could anyone else matter." He said bitterly.

"Jason, I asked you in the elevator and you said no, that you couldn't put your own son in front of Sam, and you expect me to believe you would have done any differently for me, of course I clung to Lucky, whatever else, at least I knew where I stood with him."

"You never gave me a chance to finish speaking, you just interrupted and interpreted what I was saying in a way that made it easier for you ." He retorted. "You never wanted to know because that would mean you would have to stop running."

"Really, I seem to recall sitting in your apartment day after day not knowing if you were dead or alive, I seem to recall chasing after you, and being told it was too dangerous, yet the minute I agree I see you all over town with Michael, with Morgan, with Sam's sisters." She said scornfully. "And don't you dare blame that part on the drugs, after all, I was on them too, I know what they do and they don't cause."

"Well, Lucky was right there, wasn't he." He snapped.

"And we are right back at the beginning." She said with a shrug. "Lucky, well: it hurt less to have him around then to see you all the time with that bitch Sam, I didn't have to feel like such a loser that the father of my child, or rather children was hanging out with the woman who hurt them, the woman who repeatedly hurt me."

"And Lucky never did any of that?" he asked disbelieving what he was hearing.

"I am not saying he was a saint, far from it. I have one question, did you tell Spinelli to get rid of the proof or did he do it on his own?" she asked then laughed when she saw his surprise. "Yes, I thought so. One more thing, I didn't get back together with Lucky until after seriously heavy drugs, you were letting the bitch who hurt our sons hang around and actively covering up her crimes."

Elizabeth stood and walked to the door and hit the light switch so she could see his face clearer. "What I really want to know about is how it is possible that you are Cam's father?"

His face set in stone, Jason told her what had happened. The night in her hospital bed as she was recovering from being hit, while she was still blind.

Elizabeth felt pain, then anger as she got what he was saying "When you found out I was pregnant, you didn't think it was a possibility, you didn't stop to think, hey I might be the father or were you so wrapped up in Courtney, you didn't give a crap after all you got what you wanted, her free from the criminal charges. Was that what that night was about, if I didn't agree you would tell the world..."

"IT WASN'T LIKE THAT, NOT AT ALL." He cried out as she turned to leave then said facing the door her mind back at the studio watching him walk away without a word, with her new knowledge it hurt even worse that he covered up for this woman after what had happened between Elizabeth and him.

"Really because that is what it feels like, I am done, Jason. I am not going to argue with you anymore. See I got the message that Franco was going for with his art. I finally got it the moment that Patrick told about the blood clot. I don't matter, I never did."

Leaving, she went to the hub, picked up her purse and left to go. She had way too much to do that sitting around; waiting for Jason Morgan to decide he wanted to be part of her life was not an option.

Lying in his hospital bed, Drake's words on the brain, Jason lifted his hand to look at the ring he was wearing around his neck. Looking at it, he reminded himself of why he had left then struggled to stand. Hearing footsteps, he saw Drake entering and said "I don't want to hear that I need sleep."

"I won't bother, you won't listen." He said quietly. "Why did you run off with Sam? Was it the baby like she thinks?"

"It had nothing to do with Elizabeth's baby, not in the way she thinks at least. What are you talking about, I didn't go with Sam." He said. In fact the woman was dead.

"Sam McCall is a patient at the Sister's of Mercy, she is pregnant." He told the man who seemed shocked. "That's the baby I am talking about."

"I have to go." He said as he slowly dressed his body aching from where it had landed on the asphalt. "Do me a favor and tell Georgie that I appreciate her not hitting me with her car."

Georgie's eyes narrowed as she saw Elizabeth wiping tears as she walked to her car then saw Jason Morgan leaving a bit later. Making a quick call, she asked Harper who had night duty "Where is John Zachara staying?"

"Morgan's old penthouse, why?" he asked only to hear dial tone.

The younger woman looked at the security guard in the box of the garage and leaned on her cane before smiling at him. Once inside, she counted to ten as she hit the button for two floors below the penthouse and got off sure that they monitored where people went.

For once she actually used the cane she rarely needed as she climbed up the last two stair flights the pain in her knees feeding her anger. Arriving on the correct floor, she banged on the door with the piece of ebony wood never realizing it was two in the morning.

Ripping open his door, Johnny glared at whoever was there snapping "What is so important?"

"You moron, I told you not to do that." She said as she used the cane to push him out of her way. She needed to sit down and didn't care if it was rude.

Blinking in disbelief he said "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Not realizing it was a rhetorical question; she pulled out her cell phone and said "Two fifteen."

"NORMAL people are asleep at this time." He pointed out only for her to shrug.

"You're a mobster, doesn't that mean you do your best work at night."

Sure he was dreaming this, he went to the kitchen to get a beer then when he returned said "Nope, not a nightmare, you are still here. Remind me again, why are you here?"

Glaring at him, she said "Because I was planning on swimming at the GH pool since I didn't have one of my own."

"Uh, neither do I." he said not sure what that had to do with anything but throwing it out there.

"And what do I see, Elizabeth Webber leaving the hospital crying and a little bit later a man I know that I told you not to bring there." She said glaring at him.

"Strangely enough, I don't recall giving you permission to give me orders." He snapped as he drained his beer. "And I am going to bed, I have an early morning and if people stayed out of their business things might work out for Jason and Elizabeth, why don't you be the first, maybe it will start a trend, now if you will excuse me."

Georgie was annoyed that he hadn't listened to her and she wasn't leaving until she made him realize what he had done was wrong after all she had come this far. Her knee hurting like hell, she clumped up the stairs and stopped in astonishment.

Where there had once been an awkward setup of several bedrooms there was now one door and a large open space with a huge grand piano. With a wicked grin, she sat down and played scales; badly, then moved on to chopsticks, finally deciding that a nice loud Wagner opera piece played off tune would get his attention.

"You know, my father shot people for less." He replied more amused than annoyed from his doorway as she murdered one of his least favorite pieces.

"Your dad skewered a man just for breathing, he's nuttier than a pecan pie." She snapped then with a horrified expression said "Oh god, he isn't dead or anything is he?"

Now he found himself chuckling as he asked "If he is does that mean you will feel guilty about insulting him."

"No, I mean, I will feel guilty for saying it, but for thinking it, no because honestly, your dad is a bit over the top, kind of like a cartoon villain." She said then groaned before saying. "I will just shut up now."

"Could you find your way out my door?" he asked then said "Look, I get where you are coming but I know a few things you don't about Elizabeth and Jason. He loves her."

"He has always loved her." She said softly. "That is the problem. Elizabeth is too nice and too kind to put up with the Sam, the Carly and the Sonny's that Jason's world revolves around."

"I get that you see things that way, but frankly that is Elizabeth's and Jason's business, not yours." He said then saw her grimace and lean on the cane as her hand turned white. "Crap, you hurt yourself didn't you?"

"No, I am fine. I wish everyone would stop trying to baby me." She snapped then went to walk to the staircase. Leaning on the wall, she felt the tears fall and was pissed at herself as she reluctantly admitted "I am not fine, I am sorry but I need help."

Glad he had worn a t-shirt long with his sweats to bed, Johnny said "Put your hands around my neck, okay?"

"I hate this." She growled, "I hate this, and I hate Nicolas for what he stole from me. I hate your business for what it cost me when he got into it and grabbed me to cover it up."

As he lifted her, Johnny saw her unshed tears and asked "How much of that is influencing your feelings for Morgan and Elizabeth's relationship?"

When they were on the first floor, he went to set her down when he saw how swollen her knee was and said "You are in no shape to drive. Stay here tonight, okay?"

Seeing she was about to protest, he just returned up the stairs and sat her down on his bed. "You didn't get your swim did you?"

"No." she said quietly. "Look, I have to go home, before Mac starts to worry."

"Here, can you change out of that outfit or do I need to help you?" he asked amused when she blushed and stuttered her answer. "Fine, but stay right here for now.

Heading into the renovated bathroom, he was glad that the interior designer had overridden his decision on the tub and turned on the jets after starting the water. Going back out, he carried her in and sat her on the edge. "I will let you be, but if you aren't making noise in a half hour, I am coming in."

Still not saying a word, she nodded that she understood then after he left, slipped out of her loose clothes and into the heated water as the jets helped to ease her pain. Looking at the timer, she realized it was almost time and hurried to put on the sweats and t-shirt he left her.

Entering right on the thirty minute mark, Johnny lifted her thinking no good deed went unpunished as he realized that what he had given her was ALL she was wearing.

Once she was in his bed and protesting, he just handed her two pills and said "Take them."

"What are they?" she asked suspiciously her imagination taking over.

With a smirk, he said "Tylenol, now shut down that rather large brain of yours and go to sleep."

Downstairs, he looked at his sofa and cursing, went to the laundry room where he pulled a pair of jean and a shirt out of the dryer before heading out to search for Morgan. Calling Ethan he told him to get out on the streets and held him.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" growled the Aussie as he lifted his watch from the dresser.

"About four, time for you to get up." He said then added "Unless a certain…"

"No, and I am already having trouble with her since she had good reason to hate my sister. Between Kristina's crush and my sister's insanity, I don't need another woman in my life or my bed." He growled.

Thinking on the woman in his bed, Johnny saw a light on in the building where they had found Sonny and Carly and got the feeling he knew where Jason was. "Forget it, I think I found him."

Walking up the steps, he was outside when he heard the sound of an argument and leaned against the door hoping to keep the neighbors from being pissed because it sounded like the two had finally decided to clear the air.

Inside, Jason was glaring at Elizabeth, "I can't believe you are still pissed off about that, I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, but I made the wrong choice."

"See that is the story of our whole whatever you want to call it, we both make the wrong choice but Jason, not telling me about what happened that night, that isn't a wrong choice… that is…"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he said hoarsely "Rape."

She was getting ready to lay into him then stopped as what he said got through to her. "Wait, what? You think… dammit, Jason, you were saying I kissed you back, that doesn't sound like rape to me, trust me, I am rather knowledgeable about the subject."

She looked at him, the stood against the wall and said "Oh, my god is that what you have believed all this time? That you ra-, Jason, no. Even without my memories, I know that isn't true."

"You were asleep, and we both know that if you had been awake, you wouldn't have let me touch you, let alone kiss you." He said turning to look out the window at the water.

"You held a gun on me, Elizabeth, for you to have even picked that gun up… we both know what happened there and how it got screwed up, but what happened that night… at first I was sure you thought I was Ric, until you said my name. I didn't even care that you were married and I was engaged to be married, I just was doing what I had dreamed of for so long."

Elizabeth was angry at him, rightfully so, but this, this idea in his head was so far off base, that she didn't know how to reach him so she walked over and reached out to touch him and then said 'Jason, I told you during the blackout, I loved you, even then, even when I was so angry with you that I was certain I hated you."

His head against the glass, Jason said "When I heard you had DNA tests done, that Zander was the father, I though well, that is it, she is out of reach."

Seeing her expression in the window he added "I could be dying and you are on my mind. When I was without my memories, you were there, at the back of them, some part of me was searching for you but you weren't there. Elizabeth, I haven't been with Sam, I told Max to kill her before I left."

Shocked she saw his face and asked "Because of what happened with Spinelli?"

"No, god no." he said with a bitter laugh. "I knew who she was even under the influence of the drugs, I knew she was out for number one, I just didn't care. The part of me that I had locked away, the part reserved for you and the boys, was the part affected by the drugs, and for that, I can never get over what happened. To know that I did what I did, after everything she did, it god, Elizabeth… I can't bear to look at myself, how can you look at me."

"Please, I was getting engaged to a man I didn't love, sleeping with his brother as a way to try and get out of it and almost killed myself when I thought I was pregnant with his baby. What kind of person does that make me?"

Freezing, he turned and looked at her in horror, Seeing that she flinched only for Jason to pull her into his arms and say "No, that was because all I was told was you were depressed, nothing about trying to kill yourself. Jesus, what the hell is wrong with Spencer? To …" he had no words.

"That was all on me, Jason. I was the one on the roof, thinking I had lost it all but I hadn't, I was being selfish, something as a parent I can't afford to be." She said as she eased out of his arms. "And that is why, I have to leave here."

"Don't go." He softly ordered. "Please, we have to…"

"What do we have to do, Jason… talk, clear the air, how many times can we do that, how many times do I have it in me to pick myself up off the ground when you leave." She asked "I love you, I always will but I am not ready nor do I doubt I will ever be ready for a relationship with you again. Without trust, there can't be love and Jason, I don't trust myself."

"Then put your trust in me." He said pulling her hand to his chest and holding it against his beating heart.

"I can't because you keep the big things from me, Jason, I can't live like that, you had a clot pressing on your brain, you fled and all you did was leave me a note that said goodbye."

Tensing up, Jason looked at her and said "That isn't what the note I sent you said."

"Epiphany gave it to me, I read it, it said goodbye, and it was your writing Jason. She told me it was from you."

"I left you a note but it didn't say goodbye, Elizabeth." He stated calmly but coldly. "You off all people should know that I would never say…"

Seeing his face she asked "Who, who did you sent that note to?"

"That isn't important, what is is how it ended up in the place of your note." When he saw her face, he said "Michael, I sent that note to Michael, he can claim all he wants but I saw it in his face that he wasn't going to give me the code."

"Jason what did my note say?"

His eyes lit up for a moment then he said "I told you I had to take care of something but that I would be home soon. I asked you to do something for me, when you were alone and the boys were asleep. I asked you to… well.., pray that I made it home to you and our family. After all the health problems you went though with Jake because of your blood pressure... I just wanted better than you had with Jake."

Hers eyes watering she said "Why would he take that note?"

"He didn't, more than likely Sonny did." He then told her Max's theory and saw her shake her head in denial. "Elizabeth, it would explain a lot, there are things I never told you, things that Sonny has said or did over the years and this would explain them."

"Jason, that makes no sense, I mean, Sonny Corinthos, sorry but he is old enough to be my father." She said with a chuckle, "I have to say that if I was making a list of the men I would never be involved with, he would be right up there with Luke or your grandfather."

"Elizabeth, that doesn't change what Max, is saying instead it actually makes the whole situation make more sense. You are the only woman who doesn't worship him or who hadn't had sex with him that he has wanted."

Seeing she still didn't believe him, he said "The night he slept with Carly, she told me he went on and on about you… it's why she has hated you all these years, yes because of the fact I have loved you all this time but also because whatever else, Carly and Sonny have some a sick relationship. One that you and I seem to have been part of."

"Jason, if that is true, that is truly sick. I mean, I was with his brother, you were with his sister. It's just plain wrong." She said only for him to guide her to sofa as the sun started to rise.

"I think that was on purpose, at least once he found out about Courtney and I, Max said he wanted you because you wanted me that his dislike and manipulation of the situation in regards to Jake was because he resented that with Jake being mine, he was something that Sonny couldn't take from me."

"Oh, Jason, I am so sorry." She said reaching out for his hands.

"Don't be, I should have seen it but like Max said, Sonny hid it well until things started to fall apart on him."

Carly was sitting at home when Jax returned, "I have to talk to her."

"Carly, she doesn't blame you." He said rather tiredly. "Surprisingly, neither does Lansing. There is footage from the security camera near there, it shows you stopping on a dime the minute you hit her, it shows her running into your car, she was crying Carly, she didn't see you and you had no way of seeing her."

"I still hit a child, Jax." She said "And to make matter worse it is a child that just the other day I told to shut up and to listen to what an adult was telling her once in a while. I told her to listen, Jax."

Holding his wife, this woman so full on contradictions, Jax let her cry herself to sleep then saw Morgan coming down the stairs. "Is Molly going to be okay?"

Meanwhile Krissy took the call and went back to the hospital, once there she stood there glaring at her mother while she was bawling in Mac's arms. "How could you?"

Looking up, she asked "What is wrong?"

"You are bringing her back here? How can you even think of doing that?" she asked then said to Mac. "My mother is bringing Sam to Port Charles."

"Alexis, I have to arrest her the minute you do." He warned.

"She is in a coma and pregnant, I have to take care of her." She said. "She is a lot of things, but Mac, she is still my child."

Spinelli in the meantime was staying in one of the rooms above Kelly's, still upset about Johnny kicking him out the penthouse. To make matters worse, a tech savvy assistant to his probation officer had seen his iPod and had removed it from him.

All he had now was his phone and he couldn't do as much with that as he could a computer or even an iPod. As he thought about what Molly was claiming, he couldn't help thinking that he wasn't ready to be a parent. But he owed it to the goddess to step up until such a time as she was reunited with her true love.

Picking up his phone, he dialed Maxie's old number in spite of it no longer being in service, she had gotten a new phone to go with her transfer to the New York office. When he had asked her why the city she had said "Because you can't leave the county and this way I can still be close to my family without having to see you."

Jason woke up and looked around something about the place was familiar but he had no idea where he was. "Glad you finally woke up."

Looking at Johnny he said "Where are we?"

"One of the rooms above Jake's, I didn't know where else to bring you. Uh, I don't know if you are aware but Diane Miller sued you on behalf of Elizabeth while you both were gone, she took you for most of your legitimate businesses and I kind of bought your penthouse." he said slightly embarrassed.

With a soft chuckle, Jason said "I know, about all of it, it's why I didn't worry that much about Elizabeth financially while I was gone. How is it that Sam is still alive?"

"Milo found out she was pregnant and I couldn't give the order, not even to her." he said rubbing the back of his neck. "She is at this convent near where Lulu was held a few years ago."

"Not any longer, somehow Jax was pulled into it and now Alexis is bringing her to Port Charles." he stated then heard Johnny muttering that he should have sent her to Italy like he had originally planned.

"I gather you heard my argument with Elizabeth." Jason said embarrassed.

"Man, you are beyond toast for running, even now that she knows about the note and has forgiven you. Your mother, your grandfather and even someone named Reginald is after you."

"My grandmother's butler?" he asked looked a bit surprised then said "Edward called him, he had to have. Great, so how are things business wise?"

"Calm, the families seem to get that I mean business and with Sonny in prison, the threat from him is lessened a bit."

"Don't count him out." he warned. "What about Michael, any more trouble from that quarter?"

"No he almost got around me once, but Mac Scorpio caught him planning an attack on her, are you sure about what you said?"

"He had no intention of giving me the code." said Jason as he walked to the window, "I created him, if I had just left him with AJ..."

"His mother had a bit to do with this mess, same with Sonny." pointed out Johnny. "And honestly, he could have done the right thing, he chose not to, and has repeatedly done so since you left town. Dante has tried as well, but all that has done is made Michael resent him for Sonny reaching out to his son, doesn't matter that he was rejected. "

"Why are you here?" asked Jason as he realized it was almost seven in the morning.

Flushing, Johnny said "I didn't want to go home." 

"Olivia?" he asked.

"We ended things when you were missing so no, actually Georgie Jones is at my penthouse and I don't know what to do about it, she scares me."

"Georgie Jones?" asked Jason with a smirk. "From what Spinelli once said, she is pretty handy with a gun, but seriously, she is the NICE Jones girl and you can deal with Maxie, wait, what is she doing at the penthouse?"

"She had a sudden urge to play chopsticks at two-thirty this morning." he said with a straight face then told him what had happened.

"Not a surprise, after everything that has gone on in her life."

"What do you mean?" asked Johnny, "I mean, I get that you are talking about more than just what Nik did."

"She was kidnapped as a baby, by some nutjob, then there was getting kidnapped by Luis Alcazar, she has been in the middle of almost every single major disaster in town, then when you add what Lulu did to her..." Jason stopped talking when he recalled Johnny had been dating Lulu.

"Maxie told me all about it when she was out for Lulu's blood." he said before stretching. "I have to go and find Ethan, we were supposed to meet then Luke called him last night."

Ethan was annoyed, Lulu was so determined to keep him away from Brooklynn that she had taken to stalking him. "I am going to work, do you really think that Brooklynn is hiding in Johnny's penthouse?"

"I don't trust her." said the blond who was hanging on to her brother more because she had no one else to spend time with than anything else. When they arrived at the door, she knocked then walked in to see Georgie Jones coming down the stairs.

Ethan hid his grin, the Jones girl had made it very clear to Lulu that while she didn't blame her for what Nik did, she wasn't going to take any crap from her either. "What are you doing here?"

Ignoring Lulu, Georgie finished braiding her wet hair and said "What do you think I am doing here, I spent the night, what business is it of yours?"

"With Johnny?" she said in disbelief.

"Actually, I don't think so." she said looking around. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get going."

Grabbing her arm, Lulu snapped "You aren't going anyplace until I get some answers."

Georgie was in pain, not even another soak had done much to help and she wasn't in the mood for Lulu's attitude. Turning slightly, she used the blond's momentum against her and flipped her over her shoulder and hid her need to scream as her bad knee hit the ground.

"If you want answers, find someone willing to give them to you, but I don't give a crap what you want." she snapped while Johnny who had entered glared at the blond on the ground. "What is going on here?"

"That is what I want to know, are you sleeping with Georgie now, of all people?" she asked with a disparaging look at the woman who was limping slightly.

Deciding to have a little fun with the woman who seemed to think she had some right to tell him who he could see, Johnny handed Ethan the bakery box then moved over to stand between Georgie and Lulu and then said "She stayed here last night, with me, why would it be any of your business?"

"Because... she... Dillon from me, You, me, I don't understand, how can you get involved with her after all she has done to me and my family?"

Ethan stood there in shock as he listened to his sister blame Georgie for Lulu's affair with HER husband, then for Nik kidnapping her and finally she was blaming her for Nik's death and the subsequent loss of the Cassadine funds.

Johnny just looked at the blond, then turned to Ethan, "Get her out of here. Lulu, I think you might need to spend a little more time in Shadybrook because none of that was Georgie's fault and before you blame it on Elizabeth Webber, it wasn't her fault either."

"I heard with Jason out of town, you were spending time with Elizabeth." sneered Lulu. "Let me guess after Olivia you discovered you liked older women who had one night stands with the mob, after all they tend to be pretty willing to put out aren't they?"

Georgie watched as Ethan took Lulu out the door and said "Wow, I mean, just wow. I have been avoiding dealing with her drama since I came home, but wow, she has really lost it, hasn't she?" 

Shaking his head, Johnny picked up the white box and said "Muffin?"

Laughing, Georgie replied. "Thank you but no, I have a meeting with Kevin Collins in fifteen minutes and trust me, the last place you want to be late to is the head doctor's."

At the door, she flushed a bit then said "I uh, sort of borrowed your tub again."

Watching her leave, Johnny made sure she took the elevator this time before getting back to work, determined to let this rather strange night go knowing he had no choice in the matter.

Elizabeth was at GH when she saw a grinning Spinelli heading her way and since that usually meant trouble for her, she was preparing to deal with him, when Ric Lansing grabbed him by the back of the neck at the same time as Mac told him he wanted to speak to him down at the station.

"I will be most willing to answer your questions, if you would only tell me what they pertain to." he said then mentioned. "Can we do this here, Stone Cold should be arriving soon. I interfaced with those who are transferring his beloved Sam to here so she can give birth to the child that will reunite them in..."

Ric took pleasure in the blood flowing from the nerds nose. Epiphany stopped Elizabeth from coming over and instead sent Dr. Drake who looked at him then gave him his very professional opinion. "Lansing, you hit like a girl, stop whining Spinelli, you are going to be fine."

When the kid said to Mac, "Aren't you going to arrest him, he hit me."

"I didn't see anything, did anyone else see anything?" asked Mac while all around the hub people were shaking their head no. "Now, Mr. Spinelli I would like to have a word with you about a conversation you had yesterday with Molly Lansing."

"She came to the diner to spread the joyous word about the pending big event in the lives of Stone Cold and the Goddess that I helped to create." he said with a big grin while for the first time in his entire life, Jason was grateful for that bastard Lansing when he decked the kid again when he got what was being said.

"How can you stand there and call yourself an officer of the law when the dastardly lawyer hit me again?" asked Spinelli when he got his wind back from being punched in the stomach.

"Thanks to you, Molly is under the illusion that Sam and Jason are getting back together, she had repeatedly attacked Elizabeth..."

"Well it was her return and stealing of Jason from Fair Sam..." Jason walked over and looked at the man he still hadn't confronted about the mess. "Stone Cold, I knew you would return when you heard of the impending birth."

Seeing Elizabeth flinch and Spinelli's reaction to it, gave Jason all the proof he needed that the kid had been more involved in what had gone wrong between Elizabeth and him than he had been aware of and he decided to clear up any illusions right then and there.

"I came home, Spinelli because I heard that the man I was searching for is dead. I came home to my family, to make things right with all I have hurt thanks to the drugs and my own stupidity and apparently thanks to a little help from you." he said smiling at Elizabeth then glaring at Ric who was glaring at him.

"I am so glad, Stone Cold, Fair Samantha is going to need you." said Spinelli. "I know that our sleeping together hurt you, but honestly, when you were missing she was so depressed and it was a mistake. I am so sorry I never realized that the dastardly detective was messing with your mojo and causing you to be so hot and cold with with love of your life, I will never for give myself."

Jason looked at the man who had been living with him for so long and realized he had no idea about what Jason was truly like. Everything seemed to have been filtered through his Sam colored glasses and telling him he was wrong would do no good, Spinelli was a hopeless case. Turning to Ric he asked "How is Molly?"

"Drake is talking to Alexis about implants, even as we speak." he said. "I was calling Marianna while I had the chance." he stated then glaring at the geek said "I filed a restraining order against the geek, he isn't to come within fifty feet of my daughter or Kristina. That one is for his benefit since I am afraid she might harm the kid."

Olivia, Kate and Diane had shown up to try and reason with Alexis over bringing Sam to town and soon saw and heard the drama going on in the corner. Diane glared at Jason, not happy that as soon as he showed up, Sam was coming back to town.

Mac saw his daughter arriving and walked over to Georgie, "I assume at some point you will tell me why you were looking for John Zachara."

Her lips twitching she said "Sorry, dad but not without my lawyer present and even then I will plead the fifth without immunity."

Not getting it he asked "What?"

"I went looking for Mr. Zachara to bean him with my cane for something, then I tortured him by playing his very expensive piano, badly." she said then her eyes narrowed when she saw her father's lips twitch as he tried to keep from laughing. "What?"

"Georgie, I love you dearly, but if you had tried to play well, it would have had the same..." Mac found himself getting the look he knew well from when his girls were teenagers. "I am sorry, my dear but you and the piano..."

Kate had moved closer wanting a word with Mac when Georgie said "To make matters worse, I was stubborn and hurt my knee. So I ended up staying the night and I don't think he got any sleep with me in his bed. When I left this morning..."

Seeing the fatherly outrage, Georgie found herself laughing then saying. "Don't worry dad, I actually think I am one of the last women on earth that he is interested in, I am very scary, don't you know that by now?"

Jason looked at the geek then went to find Elizabeth who had gone to the hub. "Are you free to have lunch with me?"

Looking at him, she said "I am not working full time yet, just filling in. So yes, I am free to have lunch with you, but where?"

"Uh, how about I pick you up, here in an hour?" he asked as he made what the thought of as inspired plans. Elizabeth agreed then call Monica who was at the mansion with the boys.

"Are you still going to talk things out with him?" she asked. Elizabeth and she had had some very long talks over the last few months, involving Jeff, Rick and Alan along with Lucky, Nik and Jason. Monica understood better than most the mistakes that Jason and Elizabeth had made and was able to give her that prospective even at the same time she made it clear that she wanted to beat some sense into her son.

Jason got a chilly reception when he walked into the diner, Mike just glared at him then said "What do you want?"

"I was going to get some take out, but I will just go to the Metrocourt." he replied coldly as the man just went back to wiping tables.

"That's it, just walk away, that is what you do best isn't it? You abandoned the man who protected you, the man who made you who you are, the man who let you marry his sister against his own wishes for what? Sam McCall?" asked the man.

Turning, Jason said "First of all, I wasn't with Sam, and frankly you have no room to talk in regards to Sonny. Truth is, your son refused to help me look for Elizabeth and my sons while they were missing, said his missing money was more important. As for Courtney, newsflash, I woke up to who and what she was minutes after I slept with her but I had already screwed my life up so bad, I just stayed and then managed to make things worse."

"How dare you?" hissed Mike. "I can count, I know that Cameron Webber is your son, you cheated my daughter with that woman, then did it again on Sam, I hope both of you burn in hell for the pain you caused my daughter!"

Looking at him, Jason had an epiphany, "You, it was you that changed the tests."

"You made promises to my little girl, she deserved you and Elizabeth didn't. She walked away, married Ric, she never paid for what she did to Carly..."

"To Carly... you are as delusional as Spinelli." he said in disbelief then stated. "Mike, you might want to take a good look at yourself because you know that Elizabeth was an innocent in that mess, I was the one who hurt her then instead of facing up to it, got drunk and slept with your daughter."

Carly had come to see her momma when she overheard what Jason was saying but before she could interrupt she got an earful as he continued. "I tried in spite of not loving Courtney the right way, I cared for her like I do Carly but I tried to make it more because I was hurting. When your drug abusing daughter hit Elizabeth, she didn't brake, she didn't even try and in spite of the fact that I was in love with Elizabeth, in spite of the fact that I would have given anything and I mean anything to have had the ability at the time to fix my mistakes with her, I helped the woman who deliberately hit her."

"Jason, tell me you don't believe that..." asked Carly only for Jason to turn and said "Carly, I do. Courtney ran her over on purpose because she knew the truth. I spent a lot of my free time the last two months taking a good look at myself and my mistakes and frankly as much as I would like to blame Courtney on you, I can't. I let myself get pushed into denying what I really felt for Elizabeth, I got pushed by you towards Courtney because you didn't like that Elizabeth didn't kiss your rear like Sonny's sister did."

Seeing she was about to protest he said "It's true and you know it. And that is my fault, I should have told you years ago that this idea I am your best friend is true, but honestly Carly you aren't mine. I am a convenience for you, I fix your mistakes, I let you hide from your problems and I am done."

"Convenient." she snorted. "I am mad at you for what you did and you decide to turn it around and make this all about how I made you do things. I didn't make you do anything..."

"Really, fine, well if you truly believe that, how about this... we call this rather one sided friendship at an end." he said his mind still recalling the day he was mourning the loss of his family and she had said that he would find happiness again one day instead of suggesting he chase after what he really wanted. "And tell Michael, if I catch him anyplace near my family, he will regret it."

Elizabeth changed clothes and was waiting at the hospital hub exactly an hour later then when ten more minute past, she looked at her phone, no missed calls. A half hour later, she was getting ready to leave when she saw that two men were rolling a gurney onto the floor. Seeing Sam she grit her teeth and went to walk away just as a man approached the desk. 

He was asking Epiphany "I was told to look for a woman, beautiful, brunette and with a gorgeous smile and sapphire eyes, and give her this, but I uh, I sort of lost the name."

Looking at the helmet, Epiphany looked at the nurse who felt conflicted but said "I think that is for me."

Turning the younger man's eyes widened as he said "You certainly fit the description. I am sorry I am late but I have been checking on every floor."

Receiving the helmet, Elizabeth went to the lobby and saw Jason sitting there looking a bit upset. "Hi, sorry I'm late."

Turning he smiled and said "No, you aren't."

With a knowing grin, she said "Yes I am but thanks for pretending. What is this for?"

When he said "To take a ride on my bike." he saw her face close up and said "What is it?"

"Jason, as much as I would love to go for a ride, to me that bike was my escape, my freedom, I know for you it is just transport but honestly, I know this is going to sound lame, but after seeing Courtney, then Sam riding with you,... uh, I can't. What to me was sacred, is ruined."

Jason closed his eyes as he got what she was saying. How could he have not thought of that... so much for wooing her slowly by going back to the past, there were too many land mines. "I uh, sort of left the car at the shop."

"That's fine, we can have lunch some other day." she said with a sigh.

"No, that won't work." he said scrambling to come up with a plan as he got that she had been hurt emotionally as well as mentally by his mistakes as badly as he had been by hers. "How about a walk in the park?"

"We might run into the boys." she warned him. He got why that was a bad idea. He had seen them wanting others anyone but him during the Franco mess and got that he had much work to do with his entire family and if he didn't want her believing it was for the boys, he had to start with her. "Why don't we just sit on the bench over there or we can just..."

Elizabeth found herself looking at the bike and her mind just wouldn't let her get on it. It was like her studio, she had removed all paints and painting supplies a while ago intending to never touch them again but then Cam and Jake with the help of Steven had bought her her dream easel and then had given her some canvases for Mother's day.

She had painted, used her art to work through her anger, her rage at a lot of people. Gail had seen her work along with her Uncle Tom and both felt like it had helped her deal with a lot. Then thinking on it looked at Jason and said "I know where we can go. Meet me at the Quartermaines."

"What?" he asked but all she said was "The boat house, please."

Inside, Alexis was dealing with Kristina while Ric and his wife were with Molly who was hysterical at not being able to hear. "You have to understand that no matter what she did, Sam is still your sister."

"Really, so if Starvros was still alive you would invite him for Thanksgiving dinner?" mocked the teenager, seeing her mother's expression she said "I thought not. And no, I don't have to understand what Sam is, I am tired of understanding. So if you want to be so protective of Sam, I want you to 'understand' that I am going to move out."

Alexis was caught between a rock and a hard place... she knew what it was like to be in Sam's shoes, pregnant and alone without anyone to depend on... she was going to do the right thing, no matter how much she didn't want to. Looking at Robin who was trying to hide her distaste for her patient she asked "How is she?"

"Her coma is drug induced, more than likely the result of whatever Franco gave her. The good news is that it didn't harm the baby. If we slowly give her the antidote she should wake up." said the woman as she quietly added so that Sam could be sent to a prison hospital where she could give birth well away from anyone Robin cared about.

Monica heard from Diane and said "Can we do that?"

"Yes, with all we have learned about the financial dealings that this Stefan did back then to drive GH into bankruptcy, we should be able to buy GH from the state." she said before going to make one more call.

Jason arrived at the boathouse, carrying the food he had arranged only to see Elizabeth down on the pier. "Mind if I join you?"

Patting the spot next to her, she said "I am sorry about the bike."

He could see that she felt bad about it, but he knew that any explanation he offered would seem lame so he just opened the cooler and said "turkey or ham?"

As they quietly ate, Elizabeth updated them on the boys and that her Uncle had spent some time dealing with issues involving the boys and her before Audrey had had to go help Gail with Lee. "Having Annie back here helps."

"D-do you think they would allow me to visit?" he asked then explained what Cam had said.

With a heavy sigh, she said "I have been talking to Cam, trying to clear things up, but I don't know, Jason. You were not at fault there, I was. I was the one who let Lucky convince me he was going to be a good dad when I already knew he was a lousy husband, a weak man to begin with. Jake and to a greater extent Cam paid the price for my determination to not be alone, to not feel like a loser and that is something I can never forgive myself for."

"Elizabeth, you wanted..."

"I have spent years angry with my father for my own childhood, so no, what I wanted doesn't matter." she said firmly. "I put my wants in front of my children and that will never happen again."

A bit sick to the stomach, Jason looked at her then saw her wiping tears away, "Elizabeth, I could have stepped in, before the drugs, but I was the same way. Wanting to protect you, the boys, and not wanting to upset anyone never mind the damage it did to you, to my sons. We both have work to do and I know you are worried, you have watched me walk away after making promises twice before and I know saying I won't this time, isn't going to help..."

Closing the picnic basket, she stood and took his hand. Let me show you something...

Arriving at the boathouse, Jason watched as Elizabeth pulled out keys to unlock the padlock now on the door. Entering, he saw the paintings and asked "What happened to the studio?"

"I got rid of it, it was time." she said then saw his face. "No, not because of us, but because it was time to move on, to cut the ties to the past."

Still feeling like crap, he looked at the painting labeled Audrey and asked about it. She pulled it out then showed him the small ones behind it all labeled Audrey with dates. "These are my feelings for my grandmother at important times during my life."

Moving to the first one, she said "This is from when I was raped, my anger and my confusion and my hurt, then this is the one from when Lucky died. The way I felt she didn't understand. Then this is the one from the in between years. Conflicted but loving her for standing by me."

Jason moved over to the next one, it was dark and he could feel the anger. "This one?"

"The night she told me all marriages have problems and to go home and work on it with Lucky. I was so hurt and at that point angry." Moving to the large one, she said "This is the newest emotions as we worked out a lot of stuff. She and I finally talked about some stuff we had never discussed. Grandpa Steve, my dad, her own rape, and why she was so willing to support Lucky... then we discussed some stuff I kept from her and I finally got it. I finally understood that if I had been truthful that if she had been honest... a lot of terrible things might not have happened." she said gently.

"Anyhow, I have to go and get the boys, take them home for the night, but Jason, in spite of how you can't see paintings, do me a favor... look through these, see what I was feeling..." with that she stooped over and handed him a paper and said "Then call this number. There are a few paintings there, I really think you need to see."

AT GH, Robin started the drugs, staring at Sam, she knew that the woman in the bed didn't deserve to be a mother, yet here she was about to become one. Kelly Lee had told her that the drugs that had put her into a coma had actually helped because now the baby was safely secure inside of the woman.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, she saw Spinelli entering and said "Only immediate family."

"Where is Stone Cold, why isn't he here?" he asked. "He should be here when she wakes up."

"Spinelli, where are you?" asked Lulu as she rushed into the room, "I told you, I needed your help, you have to help me keep Georgie away from Johnny. Now that Maxie is gone, if you want her back, just flirt with her sister, she will come running."

Sam could hear voices and could feel the heavy fog lifting... the voices were becoming clearer... stunned as she heard what was going on, she wished she could move her hand to see if they were telling the truth... that Jason and she were having their long dreamed of child.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 15

Jason wasn't sure what he would find as he looked at the paintings. Starting with the ones labeled Hardy, he saw a blue sort of peaceful one labeled Grandpa, then one with the label Sarah that looked like it was a dark red, but he could sense that the color was more about jealousy than anger.

The one of with Jeff and Carolyn on it, was a swirl of pain, but the one with Dad before was the one that touched Jason. It felt empty, abandoned. The one dad now, felt more hopeful than anything else. "Jason? Does Elizabeth know you are here?"

Turning to Monica, he said "She brought me here, wanted me to see the paintings."

Moving into the boathouse, Monica said "Do you want to be alone?"

"No, could you stay, you know that I can't always see things like this, all I am doing is seeing the emotions." he said sadly as he went to the next row. The one for Gail Baldwin showed varied colors and he felt a sense of respect to it while the one labeled Patrick made him ask his mother with just a tinge of jealousy, "Is this a portrait?"

"Yes, he is flirting with a figure I think is suppose to represent Robin while his hand is on a brain." she told him. "It's funny, ironic even."

"Okay..." Moving to the next one, he froze as he tried to place what it was then asked "Is that Lila's garden with Edward in it?"

The painting seemed serene almost peaceful. "Yes, she did the preliminary one day before Lila died but didn't finish it until recently." she told him then added when he saw the one of Emily "She thinks Emily would have been angry with her..."

"For what? What happened, I think Emily would have been angry but that Nik had done what he did to Elizabeth." said the enforcer his mind still not able to wrap around the idea of Nik killing Emily. "I still don't understand, why?"

"The thing is, I blamed you." said Monica. "When she died, I blamed you and it was the man who sat there comforting me, telling me that you live a dangerous life and that was the same day... the same day he grabbed Georgie Jones."

Jason had moved on to the next pictures and asked "Luke?"

"Yes, he is picture in a smoking jacket with a cigar and bourbon with a deck of cards in front of him." she showed him the various items on the canvas and then said "He was a big help to her while you were gone... when Lulu tried to cause trouble again. I think he has come to realize the damage he did."

"The Spencer kids, Nik included had or rather have a sense of entitlement, they all think that the world owes them something for just living." he said. "Luke whatever else I have to say... he at least knows the truth."

"These are the paintings of Lucky." said Monica gently as she turned them. The first was labeled before the rape. It was colorful, hopeful, then next one skipped the actually event and went to his death. Elizabeth had colored it with dark colors but there were various streaks of light into it.

Then one was the next picture labeled return. It was chaotic, followed by one labeled Spring 2001. That was the one that got Jason's attention. The man in the middle of the picture was two faced but had a dark green aura surrounding him on a black background.

The next picture was labeled 2005 and was equally dark but the one after it wasn't. It was simply a man growing smaller followed by the one labeled 2008 to present and that was fuzzy, "Is the picture off or am I looking at it wrong?"

"She said it was how she saw Lucky after Jake's kidnapping." she said and saw the moment he got what she had been trying to show. The one labeled present showed colors but no Lucky. Just dark colors fading away and light coming to the forefront.

Jason saw one labeled Carly and turned it and saw the blond was surrounded by green and chaos. "This is a good one." he said. "I can feel Carly's envy."

"Jason, no that is how Elizabeth felt. She envied how Carly got away with everything, that no matter what she did or who she hurt, you still were there for her." Jason looked at the picture again then said "She really doesn't know the truth, there, I am not sure how to tell her."

"Tell me, I will try and help you." she said needing to find peace with her son.

"I let Carly do whatever she wanted, not only because of Michael. I was afraid of the fallout, of what she would do to those I loved." he said with a heavy sigh.

"I saw her earlier today, at Kelly's. She is so sure she is always right, she doesn't get that she is almost always wrong. I am guilty of not telling Elizabeth about how I let her walk all over me, mainly because I know that it makes me a coward and I have always felt lacking to Elizabeth. It's why I ..."

"Why you..." Monica prompted.

"I see Elizabeth and I want to be a better person, a better man but I know I'm not. I let people, people I don't even really like dictate who and what I had become. It's why Sam happened the first time then after the Metrocourt." he said. "She didn't care who or what I was. She got off on that part me of me."

Monica closed her eyes as she got it. "Jason, are you ashamed of who you have become?"

Sitting down on the floor, he said "Professionally, I became who Sonny wanted me to be... I didn't know any better. Personally I became this man who was so scared to take a chance, a man who was terrified of death... yet my life was all about it."

Reaching out, she hugged him and said "You said became..."

"It took some doing and I have no idea where I go from here and the danger won't be completely gone but I got what Franco was showing me." he said then drew out the ring on the shoestring around his neck. Showing it to her he said "I bought this years ago, for Elizabeth. I had it in a box, then the day Michael was shot, I asked her to marry me."

"She told me." said Monica quietly.

"I had taken this to a jeweler while out in Seattle, had it cleaned and polished." he said a bit brokenly. "Then I put it back in the box and took the box to the safe house. When we went to save Elizabeth... I was carrying it in my pocket. I had this idea in my mind that the night would end with me home with my family..."

"Reality soon set in. Cam told me he hated me, Jake wouldn't come to me and Elizabeth was more willing to let John Zachara help her than me." he said "I took a good look at those around me, Carly, Sonny, Sam and finally saw Spinelli for who he truly was and it helped me decide to fix some things, before offering my heart to her again because I will break this time."

Hugging the lost little boy inside the man, Monica said "I was so angry with you, for so long about this... then Elizabeth and I would talk and I got how so many people were against the two of you for no reason that makes any sense. Jason, what I don't get is why is Sam McCall still alive?"

Turning a picture she showed him Elizabeth's painting labeled Sam. It was spider, with a child in it's web as she used a tentacle to wipe the blood off her mouth with another. Jason could feel the anger, the darkness and frankly the death coming off the picture and said "Do you mean now or after what had happened to Jake?"

"Both." she said.

"Now, because she is pregnant and no one could harm a baby, not even hers." he said with a sigh then added "In the past... because I let my guilt influence me. Looking back, I lost count of how many times she mentioned not being able to have kids or how I took Hope away from her or the baby she lost."

"Why would you fall for it? I know you loved her but Jason... your son, Jake..." she couldn't even finish it. "AJ, a lot of his problems came from knowing the truth about what your father and I did when he was a baby. You are going to have a lot of work to do to make sure that Jake and to a greater extent Cam understand that you aren't infallible, that you make mistakes but even then..."

"Do you know if Cam knows I am his dad?" he burst out with the one question he had been dying to ask Elizabeth.

"He does." she simply said. "Thanks to Mike Corbin attacking Elizabeth at the hospital one day."

Closing his eyes, Jason said "He hates me."

"No, he is confused, and you are going to have to talk to him, explain things at a six year old level and then you are going to have to do so a lot more in the future. When he finds out about how you were with Michael, with Morgan and the Davis girls... and I hate to say it but when he finds out about Sam, he is going to hate his mother if you get back together."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because he isn't going to understand her taking you back after what you did, how whether or not you meant to, you disrespected Elizabeth." she said gently but firmly. "She is going to be getting it about Lucky but truthfully boys are easier on their mothers than their dads."

Thinking on a conversation he had had with Dante, Jason finally got what he had been trying to tell him. "Thanks, I guess I should finish looking at the paintings now."

As he went through them, he saw her life through her emotions... the ones of the boys were pure love and they felt so real he didn't need Monica to help him understand what they were. Looking at the address in his hands, he hugged and thanked her before walking the middle aged woman up to the mansion in the darkness. "I am sorry for how long this took..."

"I can always sleep later." she said only for Jason to touch her arm to stop her.

"No, I mean for more than tonight... that it took this long to realize that no matter what I did or who I am, you were always my mother. The only one I remember."

Hugging him tightly, she went inside and listened as the motorcycle drove away. "Monica, do you have a minute?"

Jumping in shock, she turned and said "Don't you ever sleep?"

"Come into the living room, we have another way of dealing with Miss McCall. You should know, Diane did a quick peek, her hair hasn't grown back." said Tracy with a gleeful smile. "None of it, she is as hairless as a mole rat."

Dante was at the Gatehouse the next morning when he saw Jason's motorcycle going by and called Mac to ask "When are we arresting Sam McCall?"

"That plan has to be delayed." he groused. "Alexis got a judge to delay the order until after she give birth. She put her professional license on the line to help her daughter."

"We both know she is going to run." said Dante. "Her mother is going to be screwed and she doesn't seem to want to face it."

Mac agreed but knew that Alexis didn't want to hear it, she seemed to think that Sam would chance now that she was to be a mother but Mac knew that some people don't change. Hanging up, he saw Lulu Spencer in the doorway and said "What may I do for you?"

"I was left a message about my visit with Lucky, this weekend."

"It's canceled he has again landed in solitary confinement." he told the blond only for her to tear up and say "He told me how that happens. He gets beat up all the time and instead of punished the criminals, they just toss Lucky into a dark cell with no light."

Mac looked at her and said "Your brother has been in one fight since being sent there and he started it. I saw the footage along with the judge who sentenced him there. And Lucky this time mouthed off to a guard and was told to back off. He didn't, instead he seemed to be under the delusion that he is going to be getting another trial. His appeal was denied, Lulu."

"But he should have a right to face his accuser and Elizabeth was hiding from him." she insisted.

Mac just called for Harper and asked him to escort Lulu out, he had had more than a lifetime's share of dealing with the Spencers and Lulu was now on his last nerve. Heading home, he saw Spinelli at the door and talking to Georgie.

Counting to ten, he saw the look on his daughter's face and moved around the kid to say "You need to leave my property."

"I was just apologizing to Fair Georgiana for my thoughtless behavior..." he said as he once again tried to hand her flowers. Georgie took them then closed the door in his face, turning to her dad she asked "Do you think you can find out if they are bugged?"

"I am assuming you aren't talking ladybugs?" he asked then said "Yes. What is he up to?"

"You won't believe this one." she said then told him all that Lulu had suggested in front of Robin. "Do you supposed that she actually thought Robin wouldn't tell me or that I was so desperate for attention I wouldn't care?"

Lulu had made several cutting remarks to Georgie about how even whole she couldn't hold a man and that none would want her now that she was a cripple. Georgie had just blown her off, she knew that Dr. Webber had cleared her, that she was just going to have to regain use of her limbs but that Lulu had been so callous had caused Georgie to decide to accept the money that Nik had tried to bribe her with to keep her quiet.

She had been using it to cover her medical care when Diane Miller had shown up and told her that she had plans to sue the Cassadine empire. Georgie had agreed when Diane had explained the reasoning behind it was to make sure that Sam didn't get access to it after Nik's death.

What little there was left had gone to Spencer along with his very substantial trust fund so Georgie had felt no guilt at his being sued in absentia for what he had done to his victims.

Arriving at GH, she stopped in to see her cousin on the phone. Waiting for Robin she heard her telling someone that the patient should wake up this afternoon and be ready for what they had planned.

Knowing the hospital had ears, she asked instead about Lainey Winters. "Did she really flee?"

"Yes, I can't believe she agreed to do Nik let alone Helena's billing. I knew that she had money troubles, but this... to do this... it boggles the mind." she said. "Are you here for therapy?"

"No, I was talking to Dr. Webber and after some research he confirmed something. I am going to continue doing the stretching exercises but I don't need the pool, anymore."

"But I heard what happened the other night."

"That was the first clue. I should have barely been able to walk after the stairs, the walking I did that day and then flipping Lulu like she was a pretzel and it was sore but not as bad as usual, so I am just going to be soaking it in a hot tub or a whirlpool depending on what is available at the spa."

"Really?" she asked hugging her cousin. "Wait, how did you figure that out?"

Telling her about her previous morning and the night before, she saw Robin looking at her. "What?"

"I agree with him. Georgie, let it be."

"I spent most of the night thinking about what he asked me and I know he is right. I of all people know that the dark side is strong..." she said pretending to be Darth Vader. "Anyhow, I am just starting to accept that Nik, and what he did had nothing to do with the mob, and everything to do with greed and envy."

"I don't suppose you want to babysit Emma this evening?" she asked while fluttering her eyelashes at the taller girl.

"I will but I am a bit disappointed." she said with a sly grin. "I die, you get pregnant that night and don't have the courtesy to name her after me?"

"We thought about it, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I was sure you would be upset." she stated then asked "Are you sure about the babysitting?"

"Yes. Now go plan your evening of hot monkey sex and promise me that I don't have to see or hear it."

Lisa had been working, staying under the radar after the mess with Franco and Claire leaving for Albany, she needed her job and Steven Webber had made it very clear she was pushing the outer reaches of his patience. But hearing Robin making plans for Patrick and her made all of Claire envy come roaring to the forefront.

"So what big plans do you have?" asked Georgie unaware of the blond's interest.

"We were considering Jake's but I am thinking some place where we aren't known." she said. "Where do you want to watch her?"

"Since I am sure that sex will be happening at your house, how about Mac's. We both know sex is a unknown word there." she said with a lightning fast grin. "Do you think..."

"Don't go there, no amount of therapy will ever help." warned Robin as she heard her name being called. "Damn, I told them to keep Spinelli out of Sam's room."

When Elizabeth entered the room, Jason was sitting on floor in front of her painting. Standing in the doorway she asked "Are you okay?"

"No." he said hoarsely. "I am getting there though. Does anyone know what these are about?"

"No, just me. Gail asked me to paint them, they led to the rest of the ones you saw. Do you mind walking with me?" she asked then said as they went down the hall. "The blank spot is where the wind would be, but I didn't want it back after Franco had used it."

Swallowing his pain at losing one of the few things that had connected them through the years after losing the studio, he just asked "This one?"

"The day you came to town, during the whole dead ted fiasco." she said showing him the vibrant colors then moving on said "The day I was dressed as Audrey Hepburn in that black dress and opera gloves."

Seeing the colors, the confusion, he said "I knew you were all over the place."

"I was and I wasn't." she said with a sigh as they moved on to a painting with bright colors on the night sky. "Valentine's day, that same year. So much was going on, Lucky was scaring me that night and I so badly wanted to go to you... It was the first time I truly got that I loved you."

Jason could recall that night, Elizabeth's face and the pain of his burns as he looked at her in her white jacket with those horrid flowers as Lucky pulled her away. Moving on, she said "The day in the park, the day I had to put away my love for you so I could save Lucky."

There was a darkness to the painting, he could sense it but there was a light side as well. "Looking back, I had decided to make sure you were safe and happy." she said with a soft chuckle. "I thought I owed Lucky and that you deserved better than a woman who made promises to another man."

Moving on, she said "This is the day I was brought home, the storm that night and how scared I was and I made my second mistake. Sleeping with poor Zander."

Jason thought about that night, how he had known she was scared but he had left to make sure that Carly didn't show up and make things worse for her. Looking back, he couldn't help thinking what if he had only stayed...

"This is the day I walked out, after finding out Sonny was alive and that you had been protecting skipper stripper." she said not pulling any punches.

His lips twitching as he got the insult, he said "That was my mistake, not yours. I so wanted to tell you and Sonny wouldn't let me. I should have started to figure it out then, but I was hurt that you wouldn't listen and got drunk and had sex with the one person I knew would make me hurt worse."

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"Elizabeth, I knew that Courtney was married to AJ, that she was a drama queen that she was Sonny's sister. All things sure to cause me pain. I sat there the night you left, thinking I was a coward. That I should have come after you, but I was at the window, looking out it and saw myself... and I didn't like who I was but had been told so long there was no way to change, no way out."

"Then why do it?"

"Because you, you have always been this dream for me." he said touching her arm. "This representation of good and all the things I threw away before I knew what they meant."

"Jason, I am not a dream, I am flesh and blood and this idea of yours, it hurt, badly. I wanted you and it seemed like you wanted anyone but me." she confessed. "First I heard about Brenda then you were sleeping with Courtney. Courtney who didn't have a brain in her head, had no idea of hard work and was stabbing me in the back by telling me to make up with you the whole while she was flirting with you, then to hear you tell her you didn't love me. That was what led me to Ric and sleeping with him. I felt worthless and then Carly made a snarky comment so I went out with Ric and got drunk to have sex with him."

Swallowing his pain, he said "I was drunk the night I slept with Courtney, I was drowning the pain away. You have no idea how much I didn't want to love you but did. It has always made me feel inadequate to love you. Courtney, Sam and even Carly are all cut out of the same mold. To me, they all three of them had had worse lives. You on the other hand..." He knew her life had been far from perfect but in his mind, she had been perfection.

Elizabeth had turned, not wanting him to see her pain, but he reached out to encircle her waist and said over her shoulder. "You, you are my idea of perfection and I have never felt worthy enough of your love or of a life with you."

"Jason, I have flaws, big ones." she said wiping the tears. "This idea you have of me, it is a big part of our problem. I see you for who you are but you see me as this... I don't know, how to describe how what you just said makes me feel. Angry doesn't even cover it."

"I know." he said then turning her around wiped her tears with his hands then said "When I heard you were missing, I was so angry at who ever took you, I was so angry that someone had dared to hurt you."

With a bitter chuckle he added "But even with the drugs in me, I heard first Carly talking then Monica and Johnny, Ethan and even Dante and all I could think about was they were right, I was a coward because the danger, you were still in danger. In my mind, your death, your being harmed was worse than any nightmare that really existed."

"But we killed each other a little bit everyday with a thousand cuts and it was worse than if you were shot." he said. "Lucky rubbing it in that you were back together than coming to me to complain about Nik, then saying he would still be playing daddy to our boys. Then the supposed notes from you. That hurt so badly."

"I didn't write them, but I did receive a few." she said with a glance. "Maxie confessed by the way. I told her there was nothing she could do to make it right, that the person she hurt wasn't only me but my boys who were innocents in this whole thing."

"Spinelli, he did other things, didn't he?" asked Jason as they stood in the middle of the hallway.

"Yes, between the constant visits where he was telling me about these other women, then all about Sam and you... there were days when he would make comments that made me want to slug him. The stories he would tell. He tried to tell me that you asked Claudia to marry you." she said softly.

Jason froze and considered lying but knew he had to tell her. "Elizabeth... I did."

Looking up at him, she had a devastated expression on her face and asked "When we were together?"

"I can explain." he said only for her to slap him and say "I can imagine and something tells me it begins and end with the name Michael. Why don't you just sign some papers, make it official, and adopt him. Let me raise our boys on my own. God Jason... how could you?" she asked as she didn't bother wiping the tears as she ran the opposite way.

Slugging the wall, Jason enjoyed the pain as he walked down the hall from the GH mental health department. He had just more than likely lost his last chance with Elizabeth.

Jason was wandering the halls when Spinelli stopped him with a beaming grin and said "I knew it, I knew you wouldn't let down your soul mate."

Not feeling anything, he was soon led into the room where he saw Molly Lansing in a wheelchair and Sam hooked up to machines on a bed. "JASON, I just knew you would come." said the young girl.

Trying to get it together he soon got what the girl was saying and though he didn't mean to hurt her feelings, couldn't take it any longer and snapped. "Enough."

When she didn't stop and kept talking about how she knew he would be her for his beloved Sam, that she knew he wouldn't...

Jason reached out and forced Molly to face him and moved closer to the mechanical devices that allowed her to hear somewhat and said "No, I am not here for Sam. I am not back with your sister and we aren't getting back together, ever. Do you understand me. She is not the woman I love, that is not my child and we are NOT going to be a family."

Standing and ignoring her pain, he looked at Spinelli then said "Stay the hell away from me and my family. So that you have no confusion as to who that is, it is Elizabeth Webber and my sons. Jacob and Cameron. Do you get that, is it plain enough for you? Or do I have to spell it out even simpler for you to get."

"But Stone Cold..." he was soon against a wall as Jason had his hands around the skinny little freak's neck and was choking him as he said "You know, Sonny was right about you, you are a freak, a mistake in nature, something that shouldn't be allowed to live. Do you have ANY idea what you have cost me, do you have ANY idea the damage you did. I should have killed you when I first met you."

Molly rushed from the room crying and screaming that Jason was still under the control of the baby stealing mean nurse and that he was hurting poor Spinelli. When Ric and Steven Webber arrived in the room, they got no place with removing his hands from the kid's neck but Epiphany entered with a needle and gave him a strong muscle relaxant with a mild sedative.

When he fell backwards, she shoved the wheelchair she had brought with her under him and said "I will take care of Mr. Morgan, Dr. Webber, you need to check out the man who was banned from this room."

"Then call the police, I have a restraining order keeping him away from my daughter who was alone in her sister's room when I left." said Ric before going to find Molly.

Monica took the call and it ruined her happy morning. "Thanks Epiphany, what was he doing there?"

Listening, she thought about the night before and said "Do me a favor, call Elizabeth."

"She left here in tears about fifteen minutes before this happened." replied the head nurse as she glared at the man asleep in the bed then her mind went back to what she had seen in that hospital room and added. "His choking that kid, a thing of beauty."

Monica looked up and saw Alexis entering her office and could feel the feral grin start to grow as she hung up. "We need to talk."

Sitting down, she asked "Is this about the cochlear implants?"

"No, it isn't. This is about my telling Dr. Webber I would handle anything to do with your eldest daughter." she said before Alexis could speak she said "We had no idea she was arriving until the ambulance brought her, they told me that you said you would take care of it."

"With what happened to Molly, I forgot." she said. "I am sure you understand my mind was on my family at that moment. Family and taking care of them is something we both agree on."

Monica was sure that Alexis was going to regret that statement in a moment "I am glad you agree that family has to come first."

"Oh course, I mean we take care of those we love." she said thinking that finally someone was on her side in regards to her daughters.

"That is why I am sure you will understand this. I have arranged for Sam to be transferred to County. My family, and fear of what your daughter has done to them is why I and of course the chief of staff feel her needs would be much better served elsewhere."

Stunned, Alexis looked at Monica and said "Have you forgotten my family is this hospital's main benefactor?"

"You aren't actually but even if you were. There is a restraining order keeping Sam away from Elizabeth and my grandson's. Elizabeth works here and after what you went through when Kristina was kidnapped, I am sure you understand our concerned. After all family is what comes first."

Alexis started to protest but Monica said "Here are her papers and they should be getting Sam ready to take over even as we speak."

Alexis called Nik's financial manager and was furious to learn that Monica was telling the truth. "I'm sorry, Miss Davis but I am only required to let Ms. Spencer know since she has custody of Mr. Cassadine's heir."

Alexis was in shock as she got that GH was now under ELQ control, even more so when he informed her that Laura had liquidated and leveraged everything to pay debts that Alexis hadn't ever even heard of. When she arrived at Sam's room, she asked for a moment with Robin who said certainly.

Once in the hallway, she handed Alexis Sam's file and said "I have listed everything she was given and I hope they are able to make her comfortable until she gives birth. Dr. Lee gave me her file as well so that the transfer will go smoothly."

Following the ambulance that carried her daughter, Alexis went to find her doctor only to be told that it was Thursday and that Dr. Adams only did his charity hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

"Charity?" she parroted. "My daughter isn't a charity case."

"According to her file, she has no insurance, no income and no savings. How does she intend to pay for her bills?" asked the intake nurse.

Alexis was about to say she would take care of it, but with the large amounts she knew that would take and the thought that Kristina's college fund from Sonny had been raided, she was nonplussed to realize she had to let them take care of her daughter as best as she could.

Elizabeth spent some time with the boys but she could see Annie's expression and knew that she wanted to find out what was going on. Sending the twosome out to get their toys, she gave her a quick overview.

"He what?" she asked "When you two where together?"

Nodding, Elizabeth wiped her tears while Jake and Cam rushed in. Feeding them, she was soon consumed the the daily needs of the household before turning to the files from Diane. She was looking for a house, not too big not too small with some safety features just in case.

While Franco was dead and Jerry Jack had been found floating in the river, she knew that Sam, Spinelli and plenty of others were still out there and she had no intention of being taken by surprise.

Hearing the sound of someone at her door, Elizabeth opened it to see Kristina Corinthos standing there. "Can I help you?"

"Can I come in." she asked slightly embarrassed. She had been avoiding Elizabeth since Molly had attacked her. "I uh, I can't believe I here about this, but I need your help."

When she had sat down, Elizabeth asked "What is going on?"

"I ran away from home, but ended up with Bobbie Jones telling me to go home to my mother and Jax won't let me get a room at the hotel."

"Why?" she asked then after listening to her said "Go home."

"What? I thought you would understand."

"I do, I hate it but I do." she said then explained. "I am angry with your mother for what she is doing but Sam is her daughter."

"But Sam isn't..."

"I know and you know that I agree but you have to understand... Kristina, mom's have this instinct in us, that says take care of our young. Do I want your sister in the same country let alone the same town, no. Do I blame you for being angry, for not wanting her around, no. Do I think she is making a mistake, yes, but what she is doing, is what Mom's do."

"I don't like it." she said then looked at Elizabeth before saying. "I am going home, but could you please not tell Ethan, I hate looking like a kid in front of him."

"Krissy, I thought you were over that." she said gently.

"I am trying but it is hard." she said flushing. "There are no normal boys my age, they are all into video games and most have heard what happened to me when you add that to who my family is... why do you think I am free to babysit on the weekends, so much?"

Hugging the girl, Elizabeth said "Why don't you stay here tonight, I will call Ric and let him tell your mother, okay?"

Nodding, she went to grab her bag then went up the stairs to the room she usually used. Annie said "It's a shame you don't have girls, you are going to be great with them."

"Are you saying boys are different?" she pretended to be shocked. "Really?"

"Wait until he wants to bring a girl to the house and you have to deal with her parents, then when you find condoms, even if he isn't using them just yet." warned Annie while Elizabeth looked horrified at the thought. "What, you expect them both to become priests?"

Annie answered the phone then after listening said "I will tell her."

Hanging up, she said "Jason almost killed Spinelli this evening."

Elizabeth closed down as she said "Misplaced anger. He was really mad at me."

"No, I think he was really mad at the kid." she stated. "Monica needs my help with something are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, Alexis is mad that Kristina is here but she is busy. I think we are safe from Spinelli if what you heard was right and all I am going to be doing is finding a new house for us."

A bit worried, Annie went to GH where she updated Monica on the latest. "I will sit with Jason, but I need you to keep an eye on..."

"I will be sitting with my grandson." said Edward firmly as he walked to the room. "I would like to have a word with him."

Monica shrugged, she was angry right now so maybe it would be better if she wasn't there right now. "I am going to take to the doctors over at County and Mercy, give them a heads up about Sam."

"Mac already did." said Annie who added. "He called to warn Elizabeth that she might wake up in the next day or so."

Edward sat in the chair, next to the hospital bed and talked to what he thought was his unconscious grandson. "Oh, my boy, you do keep managing to screw this up. Don't make my mistakes, don't lose the woman you love for years. I did and I regret every single moment I lost with my dear Lila."

Jason found it impossible to move as Edward kept speaking. "She has been gone for almost eight years, eight years that I have lived without her. Oh, I have you, and your mother as well Tracy and her brood but children and grandchildren, as wonderful as they are, waking up and realizing the one you love is lost to you, that you will never again wake up with her curled up next to you..."

"I regret every single moment we were apart. Every single thing that I missed and for you, it is worse because you are missing your boys. They are such an incredible combination of the two of you. Cam especially. Jake is more you in looks but he has his mother's personality."

Jason listened his heart heavy as he realized in the last few months, Edward had spent more time with his sons than he ever had. The tears slid down his face and he felt the grasp of the older man's hand as he said "Oh, you stupid, stupid boy. Go to her, don't beat the hell out of the cause, deal with the reason. Go tell her you love her and that it was a mistake."

Sitting up, he saw Edwards face and said "I can't. Not this time. This time, I went to far."

"Worse than sleeping with the woman who hurt your sons? That hurt the woman you love."

Jason felt shame as he told his grandfather what he had done. Edward just shook his head and said "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. Sonny was trying to start a war and I was trying to prevent it. I just wanted peace so I could be with Elizabeth." he cried out. "What was I supposed to do."

"I guess at that point a bullet between the eyes to Sonny wouldn't have worked?" asked Edward dryly. "And that marriage tends to cut down on time to be with other women?"

"I didn't plan to go through with it, I just wanted to push her to reality but then I found myself there and knew that it was the wrong thing but it was too late... it had already happened. Spinelli knew about it, I should have realized he would have used it to hurt Elizabeth."

"I just don't get it, Jason. Why would you do all you did for the losers in your life, even without the drugs in your system, than your own children? Than for Elizabeth?"

"I just, in my mind they were safe as long as I stayed away. As long as I wasn't there nothing could touch them." he said. "I know it makes no sense, but did you ever look at Lila and think what on earth does she see in me?"

"Oh, my. Every day, if you marry the right one, you think that every single day for the rest of your life." said Edward as he finally got it. "Jason, when you meet the right one, it is hard to accept that she loves you. Because in your mind, all your flaws, all your weaknesses are highlighted and in your mind they are bigger than they really are. Your grandmother was a lovely lady but when she was young... we had our fair share of troubles. Some I caused, the majority I caused, but she wasn't a saint."

Seeing his disbelief, Edward asked "Did you know your grandmother married another man because she believed he would be more acceptable to her family. She believed that because I let her... I didn't fight for her. Sound familiar?"

Watching as Jason nodded he added. "Crane Tolliver had a lot in common with your not so favorite attorney Ric Lansing, in truth, he was an all together unpleasant man."

When Jason could move again, he saw the clock said seven in the morning. Going to the Hardy house, he knocked needing to at least talk to Elizabeth. When she opened the door, the paleness of her skin and the way she wouldn't look at him told him a lot. "Please..."

"Two questions." she asked "Do you really think I should forgive you for being willing to marry that woman?"

"I know it is hard, but Elizabeth..."

"And the second one, Jason... I just..." She looked up at him and said "I told you that trust is why we can't be together, you keeping big things from me, things you have no problem telling others. Yet time and time again, when something happens, you put the needs of Sonny and Carly first."

"I didn't with Franco, can't you see I am trying to change." he asked. "Why can you accept that Ric changed, that Lucky changed when they were lying to you but when I am telling the truth..."

Looking at him, she said "Oh, I think you are changing, I am happy for that because our children deserve a father who will put them first... I just loath that I was never reason enough for you to make these changes. I thought we were moving forward and yet, while I living a lie, you were making plans to marry another woman."

"It's not like I loved her!" he yelled in frustration.

"Is that supposed to make it any better." she hissed. "I am supposed to forgive you because you were marrying her to protect your real family, you know the one people could know about. If it wasn't for Franco, I wouldn't even know about Cam, and face it you would have never let me in on the fact that we almost had sex together years ago."

"It wasn't sex, it was way more than that." he stated.

"What about your marriage, if you had married Claudia, did you intend to sleep with her?"

"No, of course not." he said then saw her close down. "What? What is it going to take for you to forgive me? Why can't you get I made a mistake?"

"STOP YELLING AT MY MOMMY." shouted Jake as he kicked the man at the door. Cam was following him down the stairs and rushed over while Elizabeth grabbed Jake and screamed "I HATE YOU, YOU ALWAYS MAKE MY MOMMY CRY, GO AWAY AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!"

Jason froze as his son hit him and then bit his thigh. "CAMERON STEVEN WEBBER!"

The little boy turned to his mommy and said "NO, he is mean and he needs to leave. I won't let anyone else make you cry Mommy."

Elizabeth felt the tears flowing as their sons glared at Jason. Drying them, she tried to tell the boys that it wasn't what they thought but neither one was buying the story. Jake saw his mother talking to Cam and moved over to glare at the man outside the door. "Go away, I hate you."

The door slammed in Jason's face and he heard the lock being activated as he stood there in shock listening as Elizabeth tried to convince the boys that it wasn't what they thought but he knew deep down it was. He could hear her telling them that sometimes adults had fights but that it didn't mean they didn't still love one another.

That they still loved them. Jake's answer he couldn't hear but Cam's he did and Jason left devastated, he started by habit to go to the towers but that was no longer home. He had no home, no place to go and lick the wounds intentionally inflicted by his own sons.

Driving to the safe house, he entered and collapsed on the sofa, looking around blindly all he wanted was to find a way to fix his mistakes.

"I thought I might find you here." said the woman in the door an hour later. Looking up, Jason saw Elizabeth sit down on the sofa with a weary sigh and then asked "How are the boys?"

"Confused, but that is my fault. I had no idea that they had seen me cry as often as they did." she said with a twisted smile. "I did this, not you."

"I am a stranger to them, of course they are going to try and keep me from hurting you." he said. "I just... god, Elizabeth. I can't walk away from you as well as the boys. I tried, god knows I have tried, I have almost destroyed both of us in the process."

"Same here." she said then added. "Jason, where do we go from here? I love you, I always will but just when I start to trust you, another bombshell is dropped, another secret is released that sears me to my soul."

Jason lifted her hand, using his own to bring it to his face so he could feel the softness of her skin. Holding her fingers in front of his lips, he gently kissed them then said "I don't know, I just know that if I lose you, I die. I don't think that this time I would recover. I think you know all the secrets but then I don't know... I have lied and kept so much of others people's messes secret for so long."

"That you would even consider marrying another woman while with me, it burns my soul." she said softly "But I married Lucky while in love with you."

Jason took a chance and pulled her onto his lap. "This isn't tit for tat, I swear. I just, Edward asked me earlier, why I did it then he asked me if I really thought marrying another woman while loving you would have kept the peace."

"In truth, I just was reacting, trying to solve the problem and I guess I figured I would marry her, she would be neutralized then go away. She didn't want to marry me, it was all about the mob, all about business. I could have been anyone, in spite of what Spinelli might have told you." he said looking at her.

"Jason, that is possibly almost as stupid as my almost marrying Lucky in spite of not loving him so that he would leave me alone." she said as her chuckling grew. "You really don't know do you? She wanted you, I saw it in her face."

Seeing his shudder, she asked "You really didn't know?"

When he saw Elizabeth's tears as she held her stomach while laughing, he admitted. "I thought it was business."

Hugging him she stood and walked over to the fireplace and said "Your obtuseness doesn't change what you almost did but it does make it bearable."

"What now?" he asked as his mind went to the boys.

"We talk, we work with our sons. They need time but they also need to see you around we have just got to declare that if the boys are even in the same house, nothing, nothing other than what we are doing with them or others gets discussed. I won't let them see me cry ever again."

Looking at the clock, she said "I have to go to GH. Could you meet the boys and I at the park around one. We are having a picnic with Monica and they should be on their best behavior."

Nodding, he stood to walk her to the door, bending to kiss her, he was slightly hurt when she turned her head but he knew this was going to be a long and drawn out process.

Spending the day, first finding a place to live, he in the end decided to see if Elizabeth would mind his staying at the safe house. He was on his way to talk to Jax about how he got pulled into the Sam mess when he saw Carly driving away with Morgan and her daughter.

The Aussie shrugged at Morgan's question. "I don't know, I was called and told that I was a possible father to a child. I knew it wasn't true but asked Alexis to take care of the mess. I now wish I had gone, I would have never told her it was about Sam."

Elizabeth was having a day, first a woman had gone into labor while her husband was having brain surgery and she had been pulled in as a delivery coach, then another patient had to be subdued when you added that to Molly Lansing sitting in a wheelchair glaring at her all day and she was tired and not really up to meeting Monica and the boys.

"Molly, what did I tell you?" asked Alexis when she tracked down her wayward daughter, looking at Elizabeth, she said "I am sorry, I have tried but she refuses to believe me."

"I know that, and Alexis, I understand why you brought Sam here, even if I don't like it." she said softly.

"Your brother and Monica had her transferred to County." she said in a bitter tone.

"I heard and I have to say, I will breath easier." she said gently. "Kristina went to visit a friend of hers this morning, she will be home tonight."

Molly muttered something as Elizabeth was walking away. Stopping, she looked at Alexis then knelt down next to the little girl's good ear and said "You and I both know you are aware of the truth about Sam, you are a smart kid, I know it hurts but blaming me and my children, makes you more like Sam than you are ready to admit. She is not a hero, she is your sister so you should love her but don't be blinded by what she has done."

Molly didn't say a word, just looked stonily away while a tear dropped onto her check. Looking at Alexis, Elizabeth saw Ric and Marianna approaching. After a quick greeting, she explained she was meeting the boys in the park.

Hurrying down the walkway, Elizabeth looked before heading across the street just as a car came around the corner. Hearing her name being called, she saw the boys and Monica waiting while she saw Jason walking up the sidewalk towards them. She saw the gathering clouds in Cam's face and was vowing to straighten him out when she heard a horn.

The car she had seen earlier was beeping it's horn and it was rolling towards her. Seeing it out of the corner of her eye, she panicked and dived out of the way of what she thought was an out of control car only to knock herself unconscious while the driver looking on horrified.

Getting out, the man rushed forward, he had been trying to get her attention when he saw what happened to her instead. Reaching down, to check for injury, he was pushed out of the way by Robin and Patrick who had been on their own way back to GH.

"Shit." said Patrick quietly. Looking at Monica he said "Her head has a gash, it's deep."

Jason bent over and asked if it was safe to move her. Nodding, Patrick went to pick her up but Jason lifted her and held her close while Cam and Jake saw the blood and started to cry.

Arriving at GH, Jason laid her down on the gurney they had waiting while the two docs rushed their friend off. "What happened?"

Telling them, Jason said "I think she thought she was about to be hit."

The man followed, leaving his car where it was. "How is she?"

Wanting to attack, Jason saw the boys coming in and the glares and felt his heart wither as they walked right past. "Who are you?"

"Tom Hardy, Audrey's son is my dad." he replied as the young man looked towards where his cousin had been taken. "I was on my way to school, I just wanted to check in on Elizabeth and the boys."

Taking in the cocoa colored skin and the dread locks, he gave the kid a look over which made the kid grin back at him.

"To the unanswered question, no I am not adopted." with that Tommy lost his grin and said "Why did she dive like that?"

Jason lead the way up to the surgical floor and stayed on the opposite side, letting the boys be until Patrick joined them and said "She had some stitches and thankfully they are close to her hairline, Cam or she might look like you do."

The little boy with the sheared head, laughed then said. "I would like that."

"Your Mommy wouldn't." stated Robin. "She is going to be fine, a concussion, that's all."

"Can we see her?" asked Cam while now that the crisis was over wanted the big man he knew as Jason to leave. He didn't care that people said he was his dad, if he had been his real dad where had he been all this time.

"Not right now, why don't you go have lunch, then come back." suggested Patrick. "You know how your mommy is about you boys missing lunch."

Monica was walking away with them, when Cam had an idea and walked back and said "You are coming too."

Jason felt his heart stop at the idea of his son wanting him to have lunch with them but he saw Jake pouting. "Grandma, Jake and I have to wash our hands."

A bit worried, Jason let them take the lead, and stayed out of sight so they were safe but still felt like big kids.

"Why you invited _HIM?" _asked Jake.

"This way, he can't sneak in and make Mommy cry without us there to stop him." retorted Cam. "I was being smart." while his father looked down at his boots and the light in his heart at the invitation disappeared.

Returning to GH, he let the boys take the lead after a tense lunch then left when Cam made it very clear that he wasn't welcome in spite of Elizabeth trying to talk to them.

When Elizabeth had fallen asleep, Jason slipped back in and saw she was fast asleep. Reaching out, he held her hand, needing the contact. "Jase?"

"Hi, how are you feeling?" he asked moving closer.

"Do me a favor, hold me?" she asked as she woke from a nightmare. Not needing to be asked again, he did as she asked, kicking off his boots, he slipped up next to her. "Is this better?"

"Much." she said as they soon fell fast asleep.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 16

Early the next morning, Annie was taking the boys to daycare when they insisted on checking in on their mother. Looking at her watch and seeing they had time, the nurse let them into their mother's room only to regret it when she heard Cameron hiss and reach out for the back of Jason's jeans and yank.

Awoken already by the footsteps, Jason rolled then stood to look at the boys. The very angry expression on Cam's face and the scared one on Jake's. Looking back, he saw Elizabeth was still asleep and hoped she remained that way because she was not going to be happy with what he was about to do.

"Annie, can you keep Jake with you for a minute, I want a word with him when I come back." said Jason before picking up a protesting Cam and placing his hand loosely over his mouth said "Not a word, young man."

Walking down the hall, he had removed his hand and had to give the little boy credit as he walked by first Epiphany, then Patrick and finally Steven without asking them to help him. "My office is free." said the blond quietly.

Nodding thanks, Jason walked into the room labeled chief of staff and sat his son down on the desk while he sat in the chair. "Enough of this."

"Go away." snapped the little boy. "I know all about you, you make my mommy cry. First you were there then you weren't and afterwords all Mommy did was cry and cry and it is all your fault."

"And how do you know that?" asked Jason. "How do you know she isn't crying for another reason?"

"I heard daddy Lucky talking to Uncle Nik about it, how you used my mommy then went back to the lady who was mean to me when daddy Lucky wasn't around. How you just used my mommy and left her with nothing to show for it but tears. That you hurt her and he couldn't wait to fix her again." he said his arms crossed and glaring at Jason.

Jason swallowed his fury, Lucky was in jail and eventually was going to end up dead, Nik was already dead and Sam, well she was going to get hers soon enough. As for the damage he did, some day when Cameron was older he would explain what had happened but for now... "Lucky was wrong."

"NO he wasn't." snapped the little boy. "I saw you, I saw you with _her_ and that mean blond girl and her mean friend and that mean boy who is always at Miss Bobbie's."

"Cam, what mean boy?" he asked.

"Don't know his name, but he is older and mean." snapped Cam. "He was gone for a while but he came back and was even meaner than before."

Sick to realize they were talking about Michael, he asked "What did he do?"

"He would push me, tell me to go home that no one wanted me, that my dad was a loser, that someday he could get away with..." at this point Cam burst into tears and refused to let Jason comfort him while he said "You were nice to the boy who said he would do mean things to Jake and me, that he could make us disappear. I told him he was wrong, that you would bring us back, like you always did and he said that no you wouldn't, that you were only nice to me because you wanted to sleep with my mommy."

Jason pulled a resisting Cam into his arms and said "He is lying to you. I do know Michael, he is your cousin. When his mom was sick, I took care of him so he thinks I should always do that, but Cam, I love you and Jake, more. Don't you ever forget that. No matter what else, you are my son."

"He said he was the only child in your life, that I was lying."

"Michael was given the wrong information by someone and he refuses to believe that it isn't true. If I told you the sky was green, would you believe me?"

"No." he said with a laugh, "It's blue and sometimes gray and maybe really white when cloudy."

They sat there for a few minutes, Jason astonished that his son was letting him hold him this close and then Cam asked "If you are our dad; where were you?"

Closing his eyes as he knew this was going to be the hard one, he said "There was a test and I believed that test to be true. It said someone else was your dad but a bad man, changed the test to hurt me and your Mom."

"Like Lucky did." he asked softly. "I heard Aunt Annie and Grandma Monica talking about it, how he hurt mommy and us. Why didn't you stop him? You are WAY bigger than him."

"I didn't know, Cam." he said beginning to hate that phrase. "I know you are confused right now, but know one thing, even before I knew you were my son, you held a very big piece of my heart."

Cam sat there looking at Jason and said "Mommy still cries a lot when you are around."

"Your Mommy and I have to work through a lot of things, but we love each other and we love you, can you just accept that for now?"

"Are you going to make her cry again?" he asked looking into Jason's eyes and for the first time the older man really saw himself in the calm certainty that his son was showing as he asked Jason that.

"Probably, but I have cried too, sometimes crying helps." he said then asked "Do you miss Lucky?"

His lower lip trembling, Cam said "No, he made mommy cry too, he said mean things to her."

"What kind of things?" he asked then wished he hadn't when Cam said "I can't tell you, Mommy said they were bad words and not to repeat them."

Cam then said "I talked to Dr. Gail about them, she said Mommy was right that it wasn't nice words but why did Mommy not stop him? She was going to marry him again."

Holding his son, he just said "Cam, things were a little fuzzy for your Mommy and I then, we were... do you ever have to take cough medicine?"

When Cam nodded, he asked "Do you remember how you feel all off and like everything is moving very fast around you?"

Seeing him nod again, "That was how your Mommy and I felt. We stayed with people we were told would help us, but the didn't because they had hurt us before but we were scared because of all the bad things we were imagining as a result of our medicine."

Sure he had flubbed it up, he saw Cam sitting there and didn't say a word as the little boy put his chin on his knees and seemed to be contemplating something. "Okay."

"Okay?" asked Jason.

"Just okay. I get it." he said then asked "Can you take me back, Jake is going to be worried, 'member I told you that the mean boy said you make people disappear, I don't want Jakey to think I disappeared."

Jason hugged Cam yet again, and while the little boy didn't hug him back, he didn't tense up like he usually did. Returning to the room, he was upset to see Jake looking at the door clearly worried about his brother. "Jake, I am going to walk you two down to daycare. ANNIE, when will Elizabeth be allowed to leave?"

"Robin was here while you were gone, tomorrow. She wants to keep her one more day to be safe. The cut was pretty deep."

"I have to do some running around but I will be back. Will you let her know?" he said then walked the two boys to the elevators. Down at the daycare, Jason was a bit off his game when the woman in charge told him that Elizabeth had put his name down as the boys dad and that he was allowed to pick them up.

Jake just ran off to play with his friend but Cam stood there watching him leave, a serious expression on his face.

When Jason arrived at the Jacks' residence he saw the family getting ready to leave and said "Can Mercedes take Morgan and Jossalyn, we have to talk about Michael."

Looking at her son, Carly wondered what he had done now but as she listened to Jason's explanation, she started to protest what he was saying until Jax said "I thought we agreed to let him finish before talking."

Michael just sat there, he could care less what some little kid had to say about him, Cam Webber was nothing to him. Jason finished and Carly started to defend Michael when the blond said "So what? It's not like I lied."

Her eyes turned to her son and saw AJ, not Jason for the first time as she got what he was saying. "You said this to a little boy?"

"Please, do you really think the kid never heard you bad mouthing his mother to Grandma Bobbie? Do you really think that he never heard you complaining about her babysitting the brats?" he asked then went to the door as if to leave.

"Michael, go to college, far away from here." said Jason. "If you stay, I will shut down your trust fund."

"Oh, please you can't do that." he scoffed.

"Actually I can. Your father's accounts including your college fund were confiscated for RICO violations, what you have; the money you have came from accounts that belong to him but that I control. Try me, just one more word to or about my family, I will shut them down and good luck getting into school with your grades."

Jax saw Carly start to protest but when she stopped talking he turned to see what she was looking at and saw the photo of Jason holding Jocelyn she had from the baby's baptism. He could see that she was taking Jason's visit as a reconciliation, but the Aussie got the feeling it was more like closure.

"Jax." Jason nodded at him before heading to the door. Carly called out. "Come to dinner, this week."

"No. I meant what I said to you at Kelly's, Carly. I am done, fixing your mistakes cost me too much." Leaving he went to see Diane, needing to make peace with the woman. When he was waiting in her office, he saw the folders labeled Morgan Enterprises and picked them up.

"You do know it is a felony for you to read those, don't you?" she asked coolly as she sat down at the desk. "What do you want Mr. Morgan?"

"To talk." he said. "How long are you going to stay mad at me?"

"I don't know, I know that it will be longer than Elizabeth because I am not in love with you." she snarked "I know about the drugs, the impaired capacity, by the way, I used that to shut down the PI business and all access they had to your accounts. Sonny's as well."

"He tried to access my money?" Jason wasn't surprised, but then asked "I know that you sued me, how did you get away with that one?"

"It was fairly easy, I just went to a judge I knew that had worked for you before." she said with a grimace. "He thought it was all your idea."

His half grin, made her laugh. "I can't work for you anymore regarding your old business, I signed a contract for ELQ, I like working here."

"I can see that." he said "I keep up on the financial doings, Diane. I know that since you joined the company they have done a few takeovers. Including GH, I just don't understand how you got that one done as smoothly as you did."

"I bankrupted the Cassadine empire by having the Juarez family, Georgie Jones and Elizabeth sue the estate for damages along with Rebecca Shaw, Emily's twin. There is some left, a spare million or two plus estate in Greece."

"What about Spoon Island?" he asked only to be told the city had foreclosed on it. That Edward arranged for that part.

"As for GH, it helped that Stefan Cassadine stole it from it's rightful owners." She couldn't help wondering if Nik was aware that Elizabeth's family had had the hospital stolen by his uncle's accounting shenanigans which led directly to Steve Hardy's heart attack.

"What about my other accounts?" asked Jason only to be handed a list of numbers. "I need your help, I have to find a house for my family."

"Elizabeth is already looking, she called me this morning and asked I clear any house she liked through you." said Diane before adding. "By the way, I can be bought and as of this minute, you are going to be charged double for any and all personal legal expertise you need. And that may not include any member of the Spencer, Davis or Spinelli family."

"I wouldn't ask you to. Diane, I know it is too little too late, but I am sorry I ever dragged you into my mess."

"I have one question, have you said the same thing to Elizabeth and the boys?" she asked. Seeing him say "Elizabeth yes, I am just at the point with the boys where they have stopped biting and attacking me."

Elizabeth was working up the courage to have a talk with her sons when Gail stopped in. "What are you doing here?"

"Lee wanted to come home." she said quietly. "We found out, he has cancer. He has very little time left and with the memory loss, he thinks being here will make it easier."

"I am sorry." said Elizabeth then Gail said "So, how are you doing and I am asking as your therapist."

Looking at the woman and seeing someone who needed something to concentrate on other than her sick husband, Elizabeth told her what had been going on, then called Jason like Gail had asked.

The doctor took the phone into the hall then came back in and said "I agree, Jason."

Looking at Elizabeth, she said "Let him deal with the boys for now, you two can do so later, for now work on your own issues."

When Sam woke up, she looked around the shabby room and knew she wasn't at GH. Ringing for help, she asked "Where am I?"

"County." replied the nurse as she went to leave.

"Wait, I should be at GH. Has anyone called my fiancee or my mother?" she asked only to be told that Alexis was speaking to her doctor.

When her mother entered, Sam asked "Where is the father of my child?"

"Spinelli is in jail."

"So, what? Jason had to leave to go bail him out, why didn't he have Diane do that?" she tried to pretend, but something was wrong, it wasn't working. Alexis just stood there staring at her while shaking her head.

"Won't work Sam, they said there is no brain trauma and Jason hasn't been to see you once." Alexis was doing what she had, as a mother, but that didn't mean she was fooled by who her daughter really was.

"He was there, I saw him in my room, talking to Molly and Spinelli." she aid only for Alexis to state. "He was there because Spinelli dragged him there and he ended up choked for his efforts."

"He just hasn't forgiven me for sleeping with him." said Sam who asked about the television. "Would you turn it on, I will watch for a while until he shows up."

Alexis had paid so that Sam could have something to do, along with bringing in a few baby magazines. Hearing footsteps, she saw Mac and Dante standing there. "Is this really necessary right now?"

"I won't say anything without Diane Miller present." said Sam as she tried sitting up only to be told by her mother she had to lie flat for the baby.

"You won't need Miss Miller today. Sam McCall you are under arrest for conspiracy, for embezzlement, as well as child endangerment, accessory to kidnapping and we are adding on some gun charges to the list. This moves your crimes up to D felonys and you are not allowed to leave this room. We are here to handcuff you."

"Mac, is that really necessary, she is pregnant." pleaded Alexis.

Looking at her, Mac said "I know, if she wasn't, she would be in a jail cell. Don't push it Alexis."

When Sam demanded to see her attorney, Mac said "Diane Miller has filed a lawsuit against you, I don't think she is going to suddenly show up to help. Alexis, please think about this."

Dante didn't say a word, he just cuffed the woman to the bed, then looked at Alexis and said "I know this is eating Kristina up inside, what are you thinking. She called and asked if she could crash at my place. I gave her permission."

Sam could care less what that little bitch did, after all that Sam and Jason's daughter had done for her, to act like she had, who did she think she was...

Outside, Ric was waiting for Alexis, they were going to have a talk with Molly, then the ten year old was going to Mass General for her surgery. She had been distraught to find out she was not allowed to spend time with Sam, insisting that Sam wouldn't hurt her.

Hearing his name, Ric walked to the door and listened as Sam once again blamed all her troubles on others. This time it was all his fault. Walking in, he said "Alexis, if you want to speak to Molly before I take her with me, you need to get going."

Once the woman had left, Ric looked at Sam and said with a laugh "Spinelli? Really?"

"You have no idea what he has." she said as she realized she had gone almost five months without sex and was missing it. Deciding she would get ready for Jason, after all he had come back to her in the end. Glaring at the man standing at the foot of her bed, knowing that Jason hated him, she asked Ric to leave.

"Going, but I thought you might want to know, Jason doesn't know the truth about Mexico and I do, wonder what he would do if he were to learn the truth." he said before leaving. "Oh, and Sam... for the record, I know about Franco too, that one I am going to let out, at just the right time."

AT the station, Mac was dealing with Spinelli, they had to release him on his own recognizance and he wasn't thrilled as the kid once again tried to charm Georgie who stood there staring at him like he was a fascinating bug.

Walking away, she saw Dante and asked "What are you doing today?"

"I am done, now, why?" he asked.

"I sort of need a favor." she said "And Brooklynn said she would help with the later part if you came along with me now."

"What kind of favor?" he asked.

"I uh, I want to take the Quartermaine boat to Spoon Island." she said "It's something I need to do and Brooklynn made me promise to ask for help."

"I'm in, but I need to know why we are going there." he said only for her to say "I have something to check on, something I saw before I go to Monica and explain why Nik grabbed me and killed her daughter."

Elizabeth was sitting up when she saw a pair of sneakers at the foot of her bed, looking up she said "So that is the hair that is driving Uncle Tom crazy."

"Hiyah, Elizabeth." said the teenager then said "He is over the hair, now it's the earring."

"Why?" she asked as she saw the small hoop.

"I was on vacation, doing some diving with dad when I was also reading a book about pirates." he said with a grin. "There were some girls who were flirting and dad did his usual routine."

"What usual routine?" she asked reminding him they had only ever really e-mailed each other.

Plopping down, he said "The you're too busy for girls, you will have time for them later, if you want to get into a good school, concentrate on your grades."

"Oh, that spiel. He is right, you know."

"I was top of my class, scored a 21 on the ACT, 1600 on the SAT, and have early acceptance at Harvard. UCLA and my school of choice George Washington University as well. I think that he should cut me some slack." pointed out Tommy who then said "Mom said some bad things went down, here, are you okay?"

"I am fine, you know, remember our last e-mail before all this started..." she asked when he nodded she said "You were right, neither man was worth it. One was drugging me to keep me away from Jason and Jason to who knows, I think kill him. The other was drugging me to make me think I was pregnant. I am fine now, Jason and I are working on issues, something you might want to consider with your dad."

"We try, but if all I have to complain about is his not liking me flirting with girls, I don't have a bad life." said the kid. "Hey, I was on my way to school when I realized I could drop off those toys for the boys, is it okay if I leave them at grams?"

"I am sorry I scared you. When you took that dive, wow. That blond man the look on his face, I could see him from where I was and let me tell you, wow." said Tommy. Hugging his cousin, he said reluctantly,. "I have to go, one of these days, we are going to get to actually spend some time getting to know one another."

Returning the hug, Elizabeth headed to the bathroom when she felt her head wound and knew she was in for at least another day in bed. Once back in the uncomfortable bed, she heard footsteps and saw Ethan standing there. "Hi, how are you?"

"Fine, a little bump, a big gash but I will be fine. How are you?" The younger man had stuck it out after people had given him a rough time since he was related to Lucky in spite of the way he had tried to help.

"Let's see, do you really want to know?" he asked with a grin. "Kristina looks like a lost soul, mainly because of what her Mom is doing and I would help but I don't want to aggravate her crush. Lulu is stalking me, she is convinced that Brooklynn and Georgie both are after all the men who used to be in her life. Oh, and I am to stay away from the bloodsucking, man stealing leeches, including you."

"What about Brooklynn or Georgie, anything I should cheer for?" she asked.

"I helped Brooklynn move into her apartment, she took the purple sofa after Maxie and her got into it when she declared Maxie had no interior decorating taste. As for anything more, Lulu sort of precludes any chance of that. And Georgie, well, she really is way too smart for me."

"Since when does that matter?" asked Elizabeth. "And what is wrong with being smart."

"Considering what I am doing lately, not a good idea. 'Sides, I think Lulu might be right there, at least as far as one of her former men, I just saw Georgie with Dante." he knew that he was going to have to endure another round of nonsense from Lulu over that one.

Elizabeth finished with her visits, including one from her newly returned grandmother and was soon fast asleep. Robin had insisted on her taking a couple of aspirin for the slight headache she had. Her head had barely hit the pillow when she started to have a dream that she could barely recall but one that seemed familiar as she slipped into it's arms.

Lulu was working her community service hours when she saw the Quartermaine boat going past the bank she was working on. Seeing Georgie and Dante on it, she wanted to scream. When they sped past them, she was sure that they had done so deliberately as the wake they caused got her boots wet.

Arriving on Spoon Island, Georgie took out the heels, and slipped them on. As they walked up to the house, she made a point of recalling everything. Coop in a tux, Nik and Emily greeting them. The couple dancing and out on the terrace, Elizabeth slapping Sam McCall.

The moment they realized Anthony Zachara was there, getting herded into a room with the rest of the guests, losing the lights, defending Spinelli against Logan and his dad. As she recalled everyone's comings and goings, she could feel it, the nugget was there, but it wouldn't come to the forefront.

"Are you okay?"

"We need to go in." she said. "Is that butler who looks like something out of a Brit horror flick, here?"

"No, he disappeared." he said while following her into the house. She walked down the staircase to the ballroom, then down the hallway and finally back. Stopping in a room, she said "I know it was in here."

"What?" he asked.

"I am here, I heard something. Two people talking but I have no idea why it is important." she said frustrated. "The part I do remember is an older man, Ric Lansing's father was talking to Jerry Jacks. Then... wait, I, we have to go someplace." she said as they walked into a large antechamber.

Moving a chair to the center of the room, she said "Sam, Sam and Lucky in spite of knowing about Nik's blackouts, they untied him that night."

"Are you sure? Neither one said anything about it in their statements." he asked.

"Yes, Jason had gotten Nik tied up after he attacked Emily the first time." she breathed. Her mind led her back into the other room, when she looked and said "I need to talk to Sam McCall, she... was one of the people in this room, and I know that it was important."

"Do you know who the other one was?" he asked as she slipped out of her heels.

"No, but I know it was a man." she replied then blinking rapidly and stopping, she said "Wait."

Looking at the ground, Georgie tried to remember what it was that she overheard, who it was that... "Dante, something else, Nik knew someone had set a bomb on the speedboat that Jason took out here. They were expecting Jason to try and rescue people from Trevor's men... Emily was supposed to be a tragic accident."

"Are you sure?" he asked feeling a bit out of place.

"Yes, Nik was pissed when Jason showed up. Emily had heard Nik talking to Jerry Jacks. Jerry and Nik had some history, something Robin might know about, anyhow. Anyhow, Emily figured out the truth, she was just led to believe it was the blackouts. It was what I heard, they were going to use his blackouts as an excuse for him to not know anything. Trevor knew... Anthony was here. It was all a plot."

Returning to the mainland, Georgie said a bit frustrated. "There is something else, something stuck in my brain. And I know it's important."

"Have you talked to anyone?"

"Kevin Collins, and heck, I asked Lucy to consult her oogi board." Walking up the dock stairs, they saw Dante's mother and John Zachara, the later leaving while Olivia stuck around to talk to her son. "I thought you were done with him?"

"I am, he was looking for Ethan. I just ran into him. Do you have time for dinner." When she asked Georgie how she was doing, the girl said fine, then left as she got that something bothered her about the dark haired older woman.

When she arrived at Kelly's, she looked inside and saw Brooklynn being annoyed by Spinelli and entered "Brookie, let's get lunch elsewhere."

"How about my studio, I was only waiting for our food." she said as they both ignored the geek standing there. When Mike gave them their order and took their money, Georgie asked "What is his problem?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." said the songstress. As they were leaving, Michael approached with a couple of his teenage friends and looked the dark haired girl up and down then pulling her close he rubbed his hips against her and asked "Wanna go to dinner? I promise you a good time."

Brooklynn didn't like the way the kid had acted and decided to have a little fun. "Oh, how sweet, my little cousin, wants to have dinner. Do you want to play Chutes and Ladders like we did when you were still wearing diapers?"

Flushing, Michael said "Who do you think you are?"

"Brooklynn Ashton, brainiac, your dad AJ, is my dad's cousin." she said snorting in disgust. "And frankly, I really doubt you have ever used your dick with a woman, let alone to give anyone a good time."

Micheal's pals, gave him a bad time for hitting on his cousin then for the insults she had laid down. "What about the other girl, she is kind of nice looking and with that cane, I doubt she can run very fast." teased the dark haired boy. "Maybe she should be more your style, there Mikey.

The blond glared at his friend and vowed to make the girls pay for making him look bad. Thinking on it, he couldn't help recalling that Lulu was mad at the Jones girl, maybe she would help him get some revenge.

Making a call and getting an earful, he now had another reason to want to hurt someone. Georgie was seeing his brother... admittedly that was according to Lulu but he would watch, then if it was true, he would enjoy using her to hurt the man responsible for his father being in jail.

Robin was in a very good mood, as she went to check on Elizabeth. Seeing her friend was restless, she went to get a cool cloth to cool her down and pulled back quickly as she blushed at what Elizabeth was saying in her sleep.

Leaving the room, she was shaking her head as Jason returned. "Hi, uh, do you have a moment."

"Just let me check on Elizabeth, first." he said only for her to shout NO!

Seeing his expression and that he had no intention of doing as she asked she went to grab his arm and instead was dragged along by his momentum. When he heard what Elizabeth was dreaming, he blushed then said "Uh, could you go away."

"Just remember, Morgan. This is a hospital not a hotel." she teased then quickly left the room.

Jason sat down next to Elizabeth and had to restrain himself from responding to what she was saying. His body didn't want to ignore it, but his head knew that he would be wandering into some very dangerous territory.

When Elizabeth had settled back down, he went to the bathroom and quickly throw cold water on his face. An hour later, when Elizabeth woke up, she reached out and caressed his face saying. "I love you."

Then she fell right back to sleep, leaving a stunned Jason as she added. "I am so glad I can see again."

Ric and Marianna were discussing what to do with Molly when Alexis rushed from the room crying. Entering the hospital room, Ric looked at his daughter who was staring defiantly at him and snarled "I am not going anyplace without Sam."

"Really, how are you going to stop us from taking you?" he asked then saw her pout. "Really, that the best you got?"

Looking at his little girl, he said "Sam is a big girl, why do you think she needs your protection."

"Because that mean woman has everyone fooled into thinking she is a nice person but she is evil." hissed Molly. "She is trying to steal Jason away again from Sam. Sam is his true love, torn asunder by that horrible Elizabeth who stole what rightfully belongs to Sam, just like she did to Mommy. She moved here because she wanted to steal you but you were smarter than her."

Ric blinked at that one, while Alexis and Marianna looked at one another in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I know that Elizabeth stole you away from Mommy, that you were in love with Mommy and she tricked you with a baby into marrying her. Sam told me all about it, how when that didn't work she tried to separate Sam from her true love."

"Did you know that Jason loved Sam on first sight, she told me so. They are each others soul mates and only loves." said the little girl practically glowing. "They moved in together and were going to get married and were going to have a baby, then their baby died. Then a bad man kidnapped Sam and she got shot so Jason pushed her away for her protection. While Jason was lonely, that mean man stealer moved in and tried to steal Jason the same way she tried to steal you from Mommy. This time, though, she really was having a baby cause she stole him from poor Sam."

At this point, Alexis was ready to bean Ric over the head for all those princess books he had insisted were to counter what he had called her feminist agenda.

"Poor, poor Sam, her son is out there and she can't see him, the mean whore has hidden her little Jason away but at least she still had Jason until she told terrible lies about Sam to people and then Jason believed them." stated the little girl with great big wide eyes as she continued. "She was turning Jason away from his true love Sam, but in the end goodness and honesty triumphed over the evil that is that mean baby stealer."

Ric's eyes were blinking but he was not capable of any other movement as his little girl added. "I have to protect Sam and her new baby with Jason until he is better again. What if that mean woman tries to steal another of Sam's babies."

Robin had come to check on Molly's cuts near her head before they moved her but realized that her family really needed to give this little girl a lesson in reality. She was walking away when she saw someone watching the scene and hoped that he wasn't about to do what she thought he was.

Pretending not to see him nor here what he asked someone at the other end, because she wasn't sure he didn't have the right idea in spite of the age of the little girl, Robin went to find her husband. "Closet, ten minutes."

Johnny was not sure that he wasn't about to start a war but he knew that Molly was Trevor's granddaughter and that made her a threat if she wasn't told the truth. When it became clear that her parents weren't going to do so, he made a call and asked Steven Webber to do him a favor and distract her parents in the morning. "An hour should do it."

Steven wasn't sure, but then thought about what Molly was doing and knew pressing this little girl was wrong. Stopping in to check on the patient, he got a whiff of her story and decided child or not, she had to be corrected.

Johnny felt like a lowlife as he returned to GH early the next morning with the files. Seeing Steven Webber asked them to join him in the office, he slipped straight into the little girls room. "Hello, Molly, do you remember me?"

"Yes, what are you doing here."

"Did you know your grandfather Trevor worked for my dad?" he asked then saw her cautious expression and said "Yes, he did. His job was to research people, then to get them to do what my dad wanted."

"I never knew him." she said with a shrug.

"No, you didn't did you. Do you know who Elizabeth Webber is?" he asked then got another spiel on how she was evil incarnate. "Do you know when she moved to Port Charles."

"No, just that it was after my daddy did." she said only for Johnny to pull out the first item he had. "Have you ever seen one of these?"

"A year book, did you attend PC High?" she asked as he handed her the '98 book. "No, but Elizabeth did, see?"

Molly saw the picture and frowned a bit. "She is also in the next one. She graduated from there, then went to PCU, did you know that?"

"I am going to attend Harvard." she said smugly while looking at the pictures. "So?"

"Your dad moved here in 2002, while Elizabeth was twenty, she was working at Kelly's, had for years."

"No! You are wrong." she said only for Johnny to pull out the articles on the old talent shows for GH and AIDS research. "Here, look, isn't that her?"

Molly glared and said "So?"

"This is the article about your dad's marriage to her." he said showing her the dates. "It was in 2003." he said. "Trevor kept up to date about it since Elizabeth's dad is a well known doctor. Her grandparents started this hospital."

"No, they didn't my cousin Nik started this hospital." she said in a huffy tone.

"Really, then why does this article say differently, why does it say Steven Hardy."

"So, that isn't Webber." she said determined to not believe him.

"Yes, it does, he is her father's dad. Anyhow, Elizabeth lived here long before you dad, lie one."

"What lie? Are you lying to me." she asked then saw the whole pile of articles feeling slightly sick.

"Then there are these articles, did you know that Jason once owned a motorcycle shop?" he asked as she slowly said "No, I didn't."

"Here, read." he said handing her the articles about the fire and Lucky Spencer dying.

"I know you are lying, Lucky didn't die."

"Here, read these." he said handing her the ones about his miraculous return. She frowned when she saw the name Elizabeth Webber mentioned. "How about this one."

It was an article written the day after New Years about a bomb being defused in her studio by Jason and a man named Roy DeLuca. "They were dating at the time."

"NO, they weren't. Jason didn't date anyone before Sam." she said only to be handed an article about Robin, Carly and Jason. "So, someone is lying."

"Ask Carly, ask Robin, no one is lying to you but Sam, Molly." he said then showed her the article about Elizabeth's rescue from the crypt. "What about this one?"

Reading it, she wiped away a tear and said "So what?"

"What about this one?" he asked giving her the one about Courtney Matthews. "What about this one?" he asked handing her the one about Sam's testimony during Micheal's custody hearing.

Molly got stone faced, then said "So, anyone can print lies."

"Really, what about this?" he asked and took out the DVD player and ran Sam's testimony during Jason's trial for killing Lorenzo. "Is she lying?"

Wiping the tears that were gathering on the little girls face, Johnny felt even lower but showed the tapes from Franco. "What about this? See, there is Sam admitting to watching Jason's son get kidnapped, hiring men to threaten Elizabeth and the boys."

"She made a mistake, Jason forgave her." she insisted then Johnny growled, what did it take to get through to this brat. "Fine, what about this?"

Seeing the tape of Sam with her dad, Molly froze while Johnny stopped Trevor's tape before it's disgusting ending and said. "Elizabeth was married to your dad first, Ric didn't date your mom until Sam was in town and pregnant with SONNY'S KID, not Jason's. Why do you think they wanted the baby's blood to save Kristina?"

"Because she was our sister." she said.

"Something she didn't learn to much later. You know this Molly, you just don't want to admit that your sister is a bad person, and I get that, but attacking an innocent like Elizabeth Webber, is what bad people do, like something your sister would do."

"She stole Jason away." protested the little girl as the man who had come in to see what all the yelling was about entered.

"No, she didn't. I knew Elizabeth long before I agreed to take in Sam for Sonny. And Molly I have loved her this entire time." said Jason.

"No, that isn't true, you love Sam, she is your true love." she was now shrieking as Johnny finally snapped and said "No, your sister is a tramp who slept with Sonny and Jax because they were rich, then did the same thing to Jason, then slept with your father to hurt..."

"Johnny stop!" snapped Jason while Georgie entered the room on her way home. "What is going on in here?"

"Make him go away, he is lying to me." cried the little girl who said "He is saying mean things about my sister."

Turning to glare at them, Georgie watched as Johnny was dragged out of the room. "What the hell were you thinking?" hissed Jason royally pissed at the man.

"I was trying to prevent another Ric Lansing from coming into existence."

"By attacking a little girl?" asked Jason doubtfully. "What is wrong with you? She is a kid."

"There is something you need to see, something that Ethan and I found." he snapped "It's what led to this."

"Later, I am here to take Elizabeth home." he snapped then went to find out when she could go home.

In the room, Georgie gathered all the articles, the yearbooks and the various other items and asked "Are you ready to talk now?"

"About what?" she asked the girl she had heard was dead.

"That you are too smart to be buying into this Sam is a saint." she said quietly. Seeing Molly's expression, she said "I have an older sister too, Maxie. And I know that she does bad things, just like you know the truth about Sam."

Her lower lip trembling, Molly said "I just want us to go back to when we were happy and if Sam is with Jason maybe, that will happen. Daddy will come home, Mommy will be happy and so won't everyone else."

"Oh, Molly." said Georgie hugging the little girl. "Elizabeth isn't responsible for that going wrong. When I was your age, I would see Jason with her, he loved her. He isn't lying to you. Your daddy is married again, he has a little boy, what about your brother, do you want him to go away?"

"No, but Mommy can be his new mother." she said only for Georgie to say "We both know it doesn't work that way. Just like Jake and Cam are Elizabeth and Jason's sons, your brother is Ric and Marianna's son."

"Cam isn't Jason's son." protested Molly.

"Yes, he is. And Cam was created long before Sam came to town. What do you think about that?"

"Then why ..."

"Molly, it's really none of your business." she said gently. "And Sam was wrong for telling any of it to you let alone not giving you the truth."

Molly wiped the tears and said "She truly believes what she told me, I could tell."

"Then, maybe instead of trying to talk Jason into taking her back, you should be trying to convince your sister she needs the kind of help you get at Shadybrook." she stated to the little girl.

Standing at the door, she turned to Molly and said "I have to go but Molly, if you want someone to talk to, you can call me. I won't judge."

Walking outside, she saw Johnny and shoved his bag of crap into his hands and said "Real nice, what were you thinking?"

"I was trying to prevent..." She glared at him then leaning on her cane to keep from smacking him, watched as he organized everything then stood to leave.

"You were badgering a confused little girl whose whole life has been blown apart by lies told her to by someone she loved. I know that you didn't have that great of a home life, but seriously did you really think you were going to change her thinking about Sam?"

"I was going to try." he snapped. He was already feeling guilty and he didn't need Mother Teresa telling him he was in the wrong.

Jason meanwhile had entered Elizabeth's room to find her waiting patiently. "You know, my grams would have been happy to come and get me."

"I know, but I wanted to talk to you." he said gently. "Do you have time to go for a drive?"

"Not really, but we could talk after Steven takes the boys to the park. He wants me to rest at home, but I don't think you intend to argue with me, do you?" she asked only to be gently pulled onto her feet and kissed. "No, I didn't think so."

Once at the house, like had been prearrange, Steven convinced Jason to step out back with him while Audrey went to the kitchen leaving Jake and Cam with their mother. "We need to discuss your behavior boys."

Cam flushed and was going to try and brazen it out but found his mom looking at the two of them. "He left us, he made you cry."

Settling onto the sofa with them, she said "Cam, you saw me crying because you were with me, how do you know that Jason wasn't crying where he was?"

The little boy looked down, a guilty expression on his face. "Now, Jason told me what Michael said to you, and he was wrong. Jason loves both of you." she stated. "Now if you were living with him, would you have treated me the way you did him?"

Looking at Cam she asked "Would you have bit me?" Then at Jake she asked "Would you have closed the door in my face?"

"No Mommy." he said then watched as his older brother seemed to be thinking about it then Cam asked. "But Mommy you were here and he wasn't."

"Yes, I was but your daddy and I both made mistakes, it wasn't only he that was in the wrong. Yes, he wasn't here and was with mean people, but at least I had you boys, I got to spend time with you and he didn't. And Mommy let mean people be around too." she reminded them. "Now, when your daddy comes in, I want you to apologize for biting him, and slamming the door in his face, okay?"

"Fine." said Cam while Jake just looked stubborn. Finally seeing Elizabeth wasn't back down, Cam nudged his little brother who said "Fine."

"Boys, at some point, when you are a lot older. Mommy and Daddy will sit down and explain, all of this, maybe by then, I will understand, but I want you to know two things. First that we both love you very much and second that adults, big people make mistakes too."

"I love you mommy." said Jake hugging her. "I's soorrry I's bad."

"Oh, my boys." she said tightening her grip while pulling Cam closer. "This has been very confusing for all of us, we were all bad and we were all good, I just want us to move forward."

"But Mommy we would be outside." said Cam only for Elizabeth to laugh as she wiped away her tears. Hearing a cough, she turned to see Jason standing there. "You too."

"I want all of that, going forward, but as a family." he said quietly. "Can we try?"

Seeing her wiping her tears, he moved in and used his t-shirt to do so.

"Daddy, you aren't supposed to do that." said Cam always the knowledgeable older brother. "Mommy said so after Jakey blew his nose in Miss Alice's apron."

He couldn't help it, hearing Cam calling him daddy and the story he told, made Jason laugh and cry at the same time resulting in his coughing. When Jake heard Cam calling Jason daddy, he moved over and said "Daddy?"

Elizabeth held him in her lap and hugged her son saying "Yes, daddy."

At the hospital, Molly and her parents were walking out the door, Ric telling Alexis to be sure to thank Georgie for getting through to their little girl as Marianna held her medical file. Alexis whispered to Marianna, "You have changed him."

"No, he has changed himself." she said proudly. "I promise we will take care of your little girl."

Alexis went to see if she could find Georgie only to be told she more than likely went home after her meeting with the support group. Driving to the Scorpio residence, she was knocking on the door when she heard a shout then nothing.

Peeking in the window to make sure that Georgie hadn't fallen, she was stunned by what she saw. Picking up a brick, she smashed in the window next to the door and reached in to get it open.

Entering, she saw Michael fighting with Georgie who was telling the boy to stop. "What is going on here?"

Michael suddenly turned, and Alexis saw the knife by the sofa and the pillows all tossed about as well as the tear in Georgie's shirt and said "Nothing, we were just messing around, weren't we Georgie?"

Alexis could hear the threat in the boys tone and saw Georgie start to protest but Michael was out the door. "Call your father now!"

"I can't. It is my word against his." she said. "And I left GH with him, earlier, he said he wanted to apologize for something that happened at Kelly's."

"Georgie, if you don't, I will." she stated as she bent down and picked up the knife by it's blade. "And I think this might work to convince someone." That and the cuts that were starting to bleed on the younger girl, thought Alexis sick to her stomach at what she had just interrupted.

Shaking as she made the call, Georgie listened and said "I would like to report an attempted rape."

Alexis flinched as the four letter word was used and after Georgie hung up, Alexis made two calls of her own while Georgie sat down, stunned on the sofa after the attorney refused to let her change or clean up the room.

Jason hung up, stunned. "Jason?"

The boys had left to go to the park with Steven and he turned to Audrey and Elizabeth to say "Michael just tried to attack Georgie Jones. He had a knife and was going to rape her."

Hearing Elizabeth's gasp, he said "Can you come with me, are you up to it?"

Nodding, she hugged her grams and they were walking out the door when Jason's phone rang again. "Morgan?"

"Are you still meeting me at the Overlook?" asked Johnny as he watched as Corinthos self-absorbed son arrived and began talking to his friends in a hushed manner.

"I can't. Michael just attacked the Jones girl." Hearing nothing but dial tone, he turned and said "We have to get going."

Mac was in his office when Dante entered and said "Sir, a 911 call just came in from your house."

When they arrived, Mac saw Georgie being checked out by Bobbie Spencer who was insisting she go to the hospital and get the cut on her arm checked out.

"Mac, she won't tell me who did this." said Bobbie while Alexis moved next to Georgie while the officers were taking photos of the destroyed living room. Georgie started laughing, hysterically.

When Elizabeth entered, she sat down next to Georgie on the other side from Alexis and asked "Do you want me to tell them, for you?"

"I can't." she whispered as she calmed down, "No one is going to believe me."

Jason took Dante to the side and said "Find Michael and get him in a cell before Mac hears what she has to say."

"What?" he asked.

"Michael did this." When Dante wanted to deny it, Jason pointed to the knife on the table and said "I took a knife just like this away last year, Sonny bought him another one, identical. If you check the blade, his name is etched on it."

Dante looked at the knife and swore then knelt down in front of Georgie and asked "Can you tell me what he said?"

"Dante, who did this?" asked Mac furious when his officer looked into Georgie's eyes then swore before heading out the door.

Elizabeth pulled Bobbie out the door and said "Bobbie, it was Michael, some sort of incident between Brooklynn, Georgie and him at Kelly's."

Shaking, Bobbie started to deny it, then saw Georgie's hands shaking as she tried to hold the glass of water that Alexis had brought her and then looked at Elizabeth to say "Oh my god, what has my family become?"

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 17

When Jax got the call from Bobbie, he groaned then said "How sure are you?"

Listening, he walked to the nursery door where Carly was feeding their little girl and said "She isn't going to believe me."

He hung up the phone and seeing Lulu sitting there made him want to leave without even bothering to reason with his wife. "Lulu, would you please leave, I need to talk to Carly alone."

When his wife started to protest, she saw the expression on his face and said "That might be best, I will give you a call later."

"If you see Michael, remind him that I helped him out now he owes me." she said a bit perturbed to be asked to leave. Michael had promised to make Georgie pay for stealing Dante from her.

Jax quietly leaned over and said "Go find out what that is about."

Carly stopped her cousin and asked what is going on while Jax lurked in the background to eavesdrop. "Oh, nothing. Michael just promise to help me get revenge on Georgie Jones for stealing Dante away from me." she said as she blew out the door with a "I think whatever Jax wants, it must be important, he is waiting behind you impatiently."

Carly returned to Jax and saw his face looked even worse than earlier. "What is it?"

"Carly, that was Dante, he was looking for Michael. Alexis was knocking at Mac Scorpio's door when she heard a thump and thought Georgie had fallen." Carly grimaced, she had been held for several weeks so she knew how Georgie felt.

"What does Michael have to do with..."

"Carly, Michael was struggling with Georgie and her shirt was ripped. He was trying to..." Carly could see it in his face and was shaking her head, "No, not my little boy, he would never... she had to misunderstand."

"Carly, he had a knife." Jax told her. "Georgie has cuts all over and he apparently was bragging to some friends beforehand about making Georgie pay for something."

"Jax, you are wrong, you know that you are."

"Carly, your mother saw the knife, the cuts, the mess that was created or do you think that she is lying? Do you really think..."

Dante didn't even bother to knock as he came in. When Carly asked "Where is Michael, please, you can't arrest him, this is all a mistake."

Jax looked at his wife, then at the cop and said "Talk to Lulu, apparently Michael and her made a deal to hurt Georgie for what Lulu perceives as you dating her."

Dante looked at Carly who was now yelling at Jax for what he had told him and said "We know, I have his pals in custody. Micheal had asked them to alibi him before he went to the Scorpio house. Carly this was premeditated. Don't do anything stupid."

Carly waited until Dante left and called Jason leaving a message when she got his voice mail.

"Interesting, you supposedly hate him for what he did to Jake with Sam, yet he is your first call." said Jax as he went upstairs to pack some clothes for his daughter and Morgan. Returning, he said "We will be at the hotel, and Carly, Jason isn't going to come."

"Yes, he will, this is about Michael." she said confidently.

Elizabeth was with Georgie as Robin glued most of her cuts after the nurse took photos. Every time the younger girl flinched, both Robin and Elizabeth flinched in sympathy while outside, Patrick and Steven were talking to Mac who took a phone call and had to leave.

"Where is Jason?" whispered Robin while Georgie went to change into different clothes.

"Where do you think?" asked Elizabeth. "I wouldn't want to be Michael for anything in the world right now. He left with Ethan who showed up for some reason."

"Carly is going to be a problem." said Robin knowingly.

"Too bad." said Elizabeth. "Michael threatened Jake and Cam, told them he could make them disappear anytime he wanted. Jason was already pissed, now this..."

"That sweet little boy, how did he turn into this?" asked Robin as she folded the shirt that Georgie had left behind.

"Carly and Sonny. It was hard for Jason to accept, he wanted to blame the choices he made, but now, I think he gets that it was Micheal's parents who created this disaster area." said Elizabeth. "I never thought I would be grateful for Anthony Zachara for anything but with Johnny around as exhibit A for bad mob parenting not turning the kids into psychos, I think he is coming to accept that his only bad choice was in choosing them over his brother."

Edward was enjoying his time with Jake and Cameron in the GH boardroom but he had no idea why Steven Webber had asked him to take the twosome here for a while until he overheard two nurses talking in the hallway.

"-ones girl, yah, the Commissioner's daughter. Attempted rape, she fought the kid off. Rumor is he had a knife."

Edward was pissed, Georgie had been too young when Dillon and her had gotten together but the young girl had stood by him through everything. No one should get away with attacking anyone but to hurt someone connected even loosely to his family, pissed the elderly man off.

"So it was the mobster's son?"

"Yeah Dad is in prison and it looks like his son is joining him. I wonder if his brother the cop will help cover for him this time." Edward looked at his grandsons who were playing peek a boo and hoped he had heard wrong.

Seeing Audrey in the doorway and looking into her eyes, he said "Is it true, is it Michael?"

"That is what I heard from Elizabeth." she said. Looking at her grandsons she reached out and patted Edward's arm and said "Concentrate on what we have. It's all we can do."

Mac wanted to be out looking for Michael or at the hospital comforting his daughter, but Dante had called saying he was on his way with Lulu Spencer. Arriving at the station, he saw Bobbie protesting something while Luke stood back seemingly off in space.

"What is going on here?"

"Dante brought in Lulu Spencer in cuffs, tossed her in Interrogation One and said if anyone other than her attorney comes in to tell them it is on a material witness order." said Harper was he glared at the very vocal family.

"Where is he?" asked Mac.

"Hell if I know, sir. He got another call, this time I think from Ethan Lovett, then left here telling me that he should have the kid back soon."

Mac heard a ruckus and turned to see Carly Jacks rushing into the station. "Where, where is my little boy?"

Alexis who had come to the station with Bobbie to give a statement, moved forward and said "Carly, don't do this."

"No, I WANT TO SEE MY SON, I DEMAND TO SEE Michael." she said panting as she rushed around the room. Seeing Lulu in cuffs, she shook her head, then looked around to see everyone staring at her including Mac.

Walking over, she said "Mac, please, you know that Michael wouldn't do this, not rape someone, let alone Georgie. I mean she is older then him and frankly there are girls his own age who are a lot prettier, why..."

Alexis yanked her away glaring at the blond while Harper pulled his boss into his office while pulling out his phone. Making a call he said "Where are you?"

With a soft angry chuckle, he said "Get him here, bring him in the back way, the mommy from hell is in the station and just tried to claim he didn't do this and offered up one of the stupidest reasons in the world..."

Getting his bosses attention, Harper said "Dante has him, said Mikey might need some medical attention."

Hearing Mac snort, he said "John Zachara caught him, he has had him for a bit."

"I don't give a crap." said Mac as he stood and went to the door just as Claire Walsh entered.

"Sir, I called my new boss, you can't be involved, the evidence would be tossed. Be there as Georgie's dad, not as the police commissioner, let the others handle it."

Walking out his door, Mac hadn't taken two steps when Carly once again tried to beseech him to let Michael go. "Carly, I am staying out of this, that way when your bastard of a son goes to prison, he won't get a second chance."

At GH he saw Elizabeth quietly talking to her Aunt and Robin filling out paperwork. "Where is Georgie?"

Walking over, the three woman sat him down and said "Talking to Gail Baldwin. She is fine, physically. The cuts were minor but emotionally, after all she has been through, she needed someone to talk to."

"Michael is in custody." he said. "I couldn't be there, I wanted to kill that boy. And now it looks like Lulu has some part to play in this."

Elizabeth heard footsteps and saw Jason and Ethan arriving. Walking over, she gave them the news only for Jason to say "I know, Ethan came and got me for a reason."

"Thank you." she said to the younger man who grimaced and said "I have seen Michael down by the docks a lot lately with that pack he hangs with, I have to say, I am not surprised about what he did, even if I am about the victim."

Jason's phone rang yet again, he looked at the number and asked Elizabeth "Do you have your phone on in case someone needs to reach us for the boys?"

"Yes, of course." she said then watched as he turned his off. "Carly?"

"Carly, Jax called, she is certain there is a misunderstanding. That I am going to swoop in and make this go away." he said sick to death of her neediness.

At the station, Dante was leading Michael up the back stairs, rather impressed with the damage done on his adopted brother. It was subtle, all where no one would see. As he listened to Michael talking, he turned to Harper who had come to help him get him inside and said "Where is Mac?"

"Claire talked him into leaving." he said grimly. "You are in charge."

"I can't be. You are going to have to take lead. Apparently Lulu was a part of this, and Michael thinks I am dating Georgie for some reason."

"Wait, I thought you were seeing that nurse over at County?" he asked.

"Yeah, we went on a few dates, but I am not actually seeing anyone. This is something Lulu made up in her head." he said in disgust. "What about the forensics on the knife?"

"Georgie's blood, his fingerprints." was all the man had to say as they reached the bullpen. Hearing Carly's shrieks at the bloody nose and fat lip, Dante rolled his eyes and told her "Stay away from the prisoner."

"Prisoner? He is your brother, how can you treat him like this?" she asked while pulling out her phone to try Jason again. When it went straight to voice mail, she was ready to toss it in frustration but had an idea and with a quick scroll through her numbers said with a smirk. "I knew this would come in handy at some point."

At the hospital, Georgie was being released when John Zachara entered the area having gone to get rid of his clothes. Staring at Jason, he asked "Do you have a minute?"

Seeing Elizabeth looking at her ringing phone before going over to Georgie, he walked off with the younger man not aware that Mac had followed. "How is she?"

"Cuts, a few deep but the emotional scars are going to be worse." he stated.

"Jesus, she really can't get cut a break, can she?" he asked his eyes lingering on the girl who was limping and frowned when he saw her almost stumble. "I need a favor, I think that Carly is going to come after me when that kid opens his mouth."

"You're covered." said Jason. "Dante won't say anything and Carly doesn't have any back up."

"What about if she goes to the Quartermaines, she has done it before."

"I dare her." said the old man walking up. Jason turned and saw his grandfather who looked old. Turning to Jason, he tautly added. "I just had a little talk with Cam, about his cousin, he told me he mentioned the same thing to you."

Jason looked at him and said "Yes, I warned Michael, go to school out of town, and not to talk to my family. He blew me off, but this, I wasn't expecting this..."

Johnny looked as the old man walked over to Georgie and seemed to want to say something but instead, just patted her shoulder before returning to where ever he had come from. Looking at Jason, he said "I know you love your nephew..."

"No, I did, but this boy, maybe he was there all along but I didn't see it." he said with a heaviness to his soul. "I just... rape? Why?"

"Jason, look at who his parents are." replied Johnny who added. "Sonny treated woman like commodities, look at how he treated my sister, Carly and even Sam. No wonder his son is so screwed up."

Jason couldn't help thinking he had added to it, Michael had known the truth, he hadn't been fooled. The little boy had seen that Jason had been going through the motions, he had questioned him on it then, but Jason had dismissed it, not wanting to face things himself.

Feeling arms coming around him, he turned to see Elizabeth looking concerned. "No, you aren't at fault. Don't go there."

Hugging her, he said "I know that rationally."

Johnny looked at him and pointed out. "Morgan, Michael made his choices."

At the station, Dante shoved Michael into a cell and said "I will get back to get you in a minute."

Turning to the watch officer he said "No one and I mean no one including his mother gets down here without my permission and before anyone leaves I want two officers here, do you understand me?"

Nodding, they looked at the scumbag that had attacked the girl and nodded, both glaring at the sneer on Micheal's face.

Returning to the bullpen, Dante snapped at Carly. "Get him a lawyer, a good one, and Carly don't EVER come into this station again and try to throw your name around because it means nothing, got it."

"How can you treat your brother this way?" she asked.

"How could he attack a woman just because he heard from Lulu that I was spending some time with her." he asked then saw Carly's face change and turned. Standing in the hub was Georgie Jones, leaning on the cane and with scratches on her face and arms clearly visible in the sleeveless shirt she was wearing.

"Carly, come with me." ordered Bobbie who had been expecting trouble but was surprised when Carly meekly came with her to the hallway. "You need to realize that Michael did this, he ..."

"Enough, Momma." said the broken woman as Georgie's face flashed through her mind. It was interchanged with the expression she had seen in the mirror back when married to Sonny and Ric had drugged and made her think she had been raped.

Standing there, Carly felt like she was floating as she finally got that her son, had done this. Leaning against the wall, she asked "Do you think you can get Luke?"

The man had followed his sister out wanting to contain his niece, instead he saw a woman who looked like her world had caved in. "I am here."

Turning, she said "After what happened, all those years ago, how did you change? How do I make my little boy change... How do I... do I?"

As she collapsed, Luke saw Jax coming in and gave him a brief update. The Aussie picked up his wife and carried her to the car before heading to the hotel. Once there, he hesitated before going to the suite across from where the kids where and laid her on the bed.

"Jax?" Turning he didn't say a word. "Thank you."

Closing the door on his way out, he went to the other room where Olivia was sitting with the kids. "How is she?"

"Hurting and from what I heard waking up to the truth." he said with a sigh. "Have you heard from Dante?"

"He isn't going to tell me anything." she said with a dry laugh. "We have been trying to rebuild things but he still hates that he found me in bed with Sonny."

Johnny hung back waiting for Jason to take his family home, then they were meeting finally. Calling Ethan he asked what was going on down at the station.

"Claire let Lulu go, told her that this was a violation of her probation and that it would have to go in front of the judge again. Michael, I read the statement, he is going to be charged with attempted rape, assault with a dead weaponly and resisting arrest."

"Do I have to worry?" he asked now that he knew Morgan wouldn't retaliate, his only fear was the police.

"No, Dante made it seem like a good Samaritan was restraining Michael until he got there."

Johnny had to chuckle at that one as his mind drifted to the call earlier from Jason.

_He hung up the phone then watched Michael laughing with his friends. Moving closer, __he heard what the little shit was saying and grabbed him. "Really, do you really expect anyone, even these losers to believe that?"_

"_What the hell is your problem?" asked Michael as Johnny tightened his grip on the back of the blond's neck. _

"_The girl, the one he hurt, did he happen to mention her father is the police commissioner and that he had a knife?" Seeing the looks as they all went to scramble, Johnny felt Michael try to twist away and said "Go for it you little bastard, I have wanted to take a shot at you for a very long time, just give me an excuse."_

"_Fuck off." sneered Michael, "Or are you and my brother sharing yet another woman, instead of his slut of a mom, you both are doing Georgie? No wonder she was so easy."_

_Johnny took pleasure in the sound of Micheal's head hitting the pavement while blood now gushed from his nose. Taking out his phone he said "Get to the Scorpio residence, Morgan should be there."_

"_Good doggie, do what your master tells you." joked Michael while he held his bleeding nose and stood. "You are going to pay for hitting me. Uncle Jason is going to make you pay."_

"_Have you lost your memory, completely forgotten his shooting you."_

"_No, but why would he give a damn about Georgie Jones. She is a nobody." Michael was again on the ground and Johnny didn't want an audience so he said "You are coming with me."_

_Not letting go of the kid's neck, Johnny pulled him into the old coffee warehouse and slammed him up against the door, hard while hitting him in the back and the side. "You are a lousy excuse for a human being and someone should have put you out of your misery a long time ago."_

_Hitting the blond in the kidneys and listening to him scream, Johnny said "Hurts doesn't it?" _

_Catching his breath, Michael said "You are going to pay for this."_

"_Who is going to make me, little boy?" he asked then listened as Michael said "You have no idea how much power is at my disposal. Besides, she wanted me."_

"_I heard all about it." sneered Johnny as he repeatedly shoved the kid to the ground as they slowly walked to the back of the room. Knocking him out, Johnny tied him up and made sure the ropes were right before lifting the kid to the hook._

_Tossing water on him, he said "Wakey, wakey Michael."_

_Struggling, Michael said "What is this supposed to scare me?" as he saw Johnny. The mobster came over and hit him again, this time breaking a rib. _

"_You ever been here, Michael, your adopted dad, give you a tour. This is where he hung AJ, tortured him into giving up custody of you." said Johnny in a conversational tone. "Why, I don't know. You were certainly replaced quick enough when Dante came to town, weren't you."_

"_F-fuck off." said the kid._

"_No, see when I hear about a man hurting a woman, I don't like it and Georgie, I kind of like her, she is sassy and smart without the nasty edge her sister has."_

"_What, you upset I tried to get there first?" Johnny smacked him in the mouth and watched as blood now flowed freely as Michael spun around on the meat hook. _

"_Yo-ou are, you have a thing for Dante's latest bimbo, does his mommy know?" At that point, Johnny hit him in the ribs again._

"_Stop, look, I get it, but stop." said Dante behind Johnny with his gun out. Johnny turned to the cop and said "Why?"_

"_Let the law deal with him." said Dante as he looked at the mobster and said with a sigh, "Trust me, I do get it."_

_Cutting down his brother, Dante let him lay there as he stood over the blond while he gasped for breath. Turning to Ethan, he said "Keep an eye on him for a minute."_

_Nodding, Ethan saw Johnny look at him and knew he was in trouble but he couldn't let him kill Kristina's brother. Dante dragged the mobster down the hall and said "I guess my mother was right."_

_Seeing his expression, Dante said "You do have feelings for the girl, don't' you?"_

_Not saying a word, Johnny walked away only for Dante to stop him and say "Get over it, help her, she has enough to deal without finding out about this. I wanted to talk to you about that ball a couple years ago, when this is over... look, Georgie is my friend and something happened there."_

_Johnny just left, not in the mood to deal with the annoying cop as he let Ethan know to meet up with him later. He was a bit pissed, he had sent the Australian to Morgan and yet here he was with Dante._

"He has four broken ribs, a bruised kidney and I don't think he is ever going to breathe right again." said his second in command as he walked into the office.

"He would be dead if it wasn't for you." he said coldly not realizing Morgan was there also.

"And you would have been one of the prime suspects, along with her dad, do you really think Georgie needs to be dealing with that on top of everything else?" asked Morgan.

Turning, Johnny said "Let's get this over with, I have someplace to be tonight."

"Franco sent me a gift, from an attorney, if he didn't hear from him in sixty days." said Johnny as he put in the disk. Jason watched as Franco was looking at a map. An hour later according to the clock on screen a woman wearing black with black nail polish marked a spot on a map. "Sam?"

"Wait for it..." said Johnny as Sam came into view and said to someone off camera. "That should do it."

"Why are you helping this freak again?" said the woman's voice.

"Because Jason used my phone that night, if Claudia's body turns up, he is going to have to marry me so I don't have to testify against him. It's the same reason I stole the evidence against Michael. Look, let's get out of here, then talk, okay?"

"At least we now know why he used Lulu, but my question is why is Lulu and Sam together?" asked Jason. "What do they have in common besides Lucky?"

"I can think of one thing. They both hate Elizabeth Webber." said Johnny. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Ethan, I hate to ask..."

"I am already planning on doing it." he said then added. "I asked her to dinner, saying that Brooklynn had invited me to eat Thai food with her this evening."

"Morgan, Sam might open up to me if she thought there was something in it for her." said Johnny as he figured he might just have time to do that before going to take care of his plans for that evening.

Leaving, Jason was contemplative as he drove to the safe house. Seeing Elizabeth and the boys there, he embraced the woman he loved and got a hi from both of the boys before they went back to playing. "What is that?"

"That is an old Lincoln Log set, it belonged to Steven, then to Tommy and now to my little heathens." she said with a grin as Cam bit his lip while concentrating on building the barn. "I uh, they wanted lots of space, something there isn't at grams."

Hugging her again, loving that they were there, he said "What about dinner? Should I order something."

"You can't smell the food in the oven?" asked Elizabeth who said "Grams is home, she prepped it up for me to bring here. I was thinking we could have a quiet family dinner."

Michael was breathing hard but Claire wouldn't let him be transferred to GH after his ribs had been taped and his bleeding stopped. When he had started to complain, she made it very clear he was on his own. "I want my phone call."

Handing him a phone, she said "Use it wisely and get yourself an attorney."

Michael was going to call his mother, but knew the person he really needed was his uncle. Hitting the buttons, he left a message. "I am in jail, I need to be bailed out."

Upstairs, Georgie was finishing with David Harper when she had a thought and asked "I know this is unusual, but can I see the files from the Black and White ball as well as the files on my murder?"

"Sure, let me clear it with your dad, but I don't think it will be a problem." he said gently as he saw the bruises that were starting to show. When Robin came in, Georgie asked "Can you help me get these to your car, I can read them later at home."

"Georgie, you can't go home." she said gently. "I promised Mac you would spend the night with us."

"NO!" she said firmly. "I won't be chased out of my own home, not after everything else."

"Georgie, be reasonable. They only have plywood were Alexis broke the window."

"Then let me stay with Brooklynn." she said only to be reminded that Brooklynn didn't have a spare room. "I can't stay with you, I can't be there with your happy family, not right now, don't you get that?" she asked plaintively.

Once outside, she said "Deal with Dad for me, he is talking to Gail right now, I am sure I am in for one of those nights where everyone walks around on tiptoes to avoid upsetting me, I will just crash at a hotel, or something."

"That isn't a good idea." said Robin adding "Besides, you need clothes."

"I keep a bag in the car and Robin, I need a whirlpool and right now, a hotel would be the best place to get all I need, I love you, but stop SMOTHERING ME!" she said as she got behind the wheel and mentally thanked Patrick's brother for driving it over no questions asked.

Georgie was heading to get some pizza when she saw the pull-off for County and pulled into the parking lot. Showing her ID with her hand on the photo, she was let into Sam's room and saw she was cuffed to the bed. "Sam, how are you?"

"Georgie, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Did Maxie send a message, are you dating Spinelli again? Do you know where Jason is?"

"I came to see you. I was talking to my therapist and we got on the Black and White ball, I remember you being there and with you having those sharp skills of deduction, I was hoping you could help me with something." she said gagging as she said it, unaware that Johnny was outside.

"Well, I don't know how much help I will be, I was outside helping get the boat fixed, then Jason and I shot some of the hired gunmen, we talked in the barn and then I went back inside to help protect everyone."

"Is that when you untied Nik?" she asked pretending to be interested.

"Huh, oh, yes, I did. Then we went looking for Anthony Zachara." she said.

"Do you remember, after they found Emily dead, I saw you talking to someone, a guy, a cute one, I think. Who was that?" she asked still playing the woman.

"Uh, let me think... sorry, don't remember." she said a bit more cautiously.

"Oh, okay." she said then stated. "As for Spinelli, no haven't seen him. And Maxie is still mad, I believe that the last message she sent for him was to drop dead. Also, Jason... was with Elizabeth and their boys. I think they were planning on going home for the night."

"Please, the little waif must have pretended to be in danger again." she snorted.

Georgie stood and was at the door when she turned and said "Whatever let's you sleep at night, Sammy, I am sure that a delusional bitch like you sleeps like a baby comforted by your dreams of a happy ever after with a man who forgot you existed every single time you walked out the door."

Johnny could see the wicked smirk and knew that she was about to let Sam have it. "Oh, Dr. Ian Devlin, that as his name, wasn't it?"

Sam tried to play it off and said "He was a doctor at GH, the one who shot Michael at Claudia's orders."

"Yes, the same man who was working for Trevor Lansing and Jerry Jacks. The same man you were eavesdropping on at the ball. The man dressed like the wait staff so he could meet with his partners" said Georgie. "I can't wait to blow your secrets sky high.

Sam knew she had no choice but to try and stop her. "WAIT, PLEASE!, you don't understand, I was..."

"I could care less." said Georgie. "I was held hostage for over two years because of something YOU DID. They were after you, we were the only two in the hall and we were both wearing black dresses. I remember Sam, I recall everything about why you wanted those drugs, you are the reason my father went through this, why Maxie blamed herself for my death, it was YOU!"

Johnny pushed open the door and grabbed the Jones girl and got her out of there. At his car, he said "Get in."

"No, I have my own car." she said. "Why did you stop me?"

"We need to talk, about the ball. I think you and I are after the same thing."

"Somehow I doubt it." she said dryly. "I am trying to get to the truth about what happened to me and you certainly don't give a damn about that."

Don't count it, he thought to himself while looking at her. Her arms and neck were bruising up in purples and she had cuts on the same arms and a few on her face. He could see the bandage on her chest and wanted to ask if she was okay but sensed she would fight him over what he was about to suggest next if he did.

"Hello?" she asked having her hand in front of him. "Are you in there?"

"Yes, look just trust me, okay. I will go and pick up something to eat, meet me at my place, okay?" he asked intently.

Looking at him, then sighing, she said "Better yet, give me your keys."

Seeing his expression, she said "The entire case files for the black and white ball are in my trunk, since it is case closed and no trial, Harper let me take it. You get to carry it, just don't dent my new car, okay?"

Blinking as he found himself obeying, Johnny got his act together when she called out after starting his muscle car, "Pizza okay?"

"Hey, come back here." he said then laughing called Ethan and said "Uh, cancel the two am relief."

"Why, I thought you wanted to keep an eye on her."

"I have a better idea and you don't want to know about it." he said smirking as he sat down in her car and moved the seat back before driving to the towers. Seeing the bag of clothes next to the boxes, he asked the guard for a dolley and soon had them all upstairs.

Running up to change his clothes, he had finished showering when he heard a knock on the door. Dressing quickly with his hair still went, he still pulling on his shirt when he said opening it. "I hope you didn't get anchovies on that pizza.

"I don't think I am the person you were expecting." said Olivia slightly embarrassed to realize that there was a rather feminine overnight bag next to the door and that it looked like Johnny had just gotten out of the shower.

"Olivia, is there something I can do for you?" he asked coolly. "I am rather busy right now."

"I see that, I just needed someone to talk to." she said then looking at him said "I'm pregnant."

Georgie had come up the elevator and heard what she said "Uh, I can come back later, you two clearly need to talk."

"NO!" said the dark haired woman embarrassed. "It's uh, It's... Johnny and I were over months ago. Uh, look, I have to go."

"Olivia, the father, it's Sonny isn't it?" asked Johnny while shaking his head at the mess she was in yet again thanks to Corinthos.

Looking down, to hide her tears, she whispered "Yes, I just found out, I am pregnant, literally to the day he was hauled off to prison."

When she had gotten on the elevator, Georgie said "I can leave, you should go after her."

"No. I shouldn't." he said calmly as he took the pizzas from her. "We were over long before it became official. It was more of a case of not wanting her with Sonny in the end, more for her sake than mine. I care for her, but it was like with Lulu, I was still trying to replace what I lost by having Anthony as a father."

"Sorry, about that." she said making a funny face. "Why am I here again?"

Jason was helping Elizabeth finish up the dishes when he saw her phone was turned off. "Carly?"

"No, everyone else." she said. "Not a peep out of Carly since that lone call earlier."

"Mommy are we spending the night here?" asked Cam as he joined them in the kitchen. "Cause, Jake is asleep already and he won't let go of the chimney piece."

Lifting the little boy, Jason said "Let's go see this farm you put together and maybe we can let Jake hold onto that piece so he can help finish it in the morning, okay?"

"Okay." he said doubtfully as they went back to the other room. All the furniture had been pushed back, clearing a large space in the center for the toys. "So what is this?"

"That is the barn, that is the house, this round thing is the silo, those are the pens to hold the piggys, that is for the chickens, but they are awfully small. That large round area is for the horses and cows, Mommy said they could share, but I think that they are supposed to be kept separate." whispered Cam. "Mommy doesn't do smelly places like barns. She wrinkles her nose a lot. I miss Aunt Emily, she loved to go and visit the lambs with me."

Hugging him, Jason said "I miss her too, but wait, you don't have lambs here."

"Uncle Steven said that Mommy painted them green and put pink polka dots on them when she was little." he confessed. "That they had to be thrown out."

Looking at Elizabeth who had picked up Jake, he saw her face and had to ask "What is the story behind that..."

"Steven told me that lambs wool was what made my sweater, I just wanted them to match my favorite one." When he looked like he was trying not to laugh, she put down Jake and had her hands on her hips when she said "I was five, Jason. I seem to recall photos of you in a strange sweater and you were older than five."

"Daddy, what kind of sweater? Was it one that covered your neck, I don't like those, either. They are scratchy."

Carrying Cam to bed, Jason saw Elizabeth had changed Jake out of his street clothes and into a pair of lightweight pajamas. Jason was going to wait, but Cam just went to the bag and grabbed his own.

As he changed, he said "Daddy, I am stuck."

Turning, Jason saw that Cam had forgotten to take off his shoes before removing his jeans, so he quickly solved the problem for him. "Night, Mommy. Night daddy."

Kissing him on the forehead, Jason saw that Jake hadn't even woken up while Cam was soon fast asleep. "No bedtime story?"

"I let him stay up a little later in exchange for skipping their story tonight." she said before leading him back to the living room. "I was hoping we could do some more talking."

Walking carefully around the family farm, Jason saw the dropped chimney and placed it on the table before saying. "What is tonight's subject?"

"I was hoping you would tell me what happened earlier." she said "Cam didn't say much, but I gather you got through to him since every other word tonight was daddy."

Giving her the bare bones, he asked if she was okay with not knowing more. "Jason, you are his father, I trust you with him."

"It was hard, the look on his face when I told him not to say another word after ..."

Seeing Elizabeth shiver, he said "What is it?"

Telling him about her rape and Tom Baker using that exact same phrase, she soon found herself in his lap as he tried to reassure her. Kissing him on the check, she said "Jason, I am fine. I was already thinking about it because of what happened to Georgie..."

"Speaking of her, I got a voice mail from Johnny, earlier, she got through to Molly. I forgot to tell you."

"Good, that is one confused little girl." she said sadly. Kissing Elizabeth quickly on the lips, Jason was planning on a little more of the same when his phone rang. Looking at it, he sighed then answered. "Drake there had better be a good reason for this."

"I hate to bother you, but do you know where Elizabeth is? Her phone is turned off."

Handing her his phone, Jason sat back then saw Elizabeth start to stand. "I will be right in."

Turning, she saw Jason getting ready to go with her and said "The boys, remember."

"What is going on?" he asked.

"Surgery. They have an incoming from Mercyflight and I am needed." she said slipping her shoes back on. Jason sat there, watching as she went from Mom and the woman he loved into efficient nurse mode.

Stopping at the door, Elizabeth hurried back and pulled Jason's head down into a kiss and said "Not how I was hoping my night would end, but the boys are in our bed anyhow."

"Don't tease me like that." he said groaning as she gave him a leer and another kiss before rushing out the door.

"What do you know about why I was grabbed?" she asked sitting cross legged on the floor as they finished the pizza.

"Nik grabbed you because you knew something or something that led to Emily's death. Are you sure you should be sitting like that?" he asked.

"For now, I'm fine." she said then grabbing his beer with sideways glance, she took a sip and grimacing said "I was at the ball and since I was more worried about Robin and Maxie's love life than anything else, I didn't pay a lot of attention."

"Then I went to the park, I ran into Nik. Next thing I recall was waking up in the dungeon at Wyndemere. I pretended to be asleep and heard Lurch talking to Nik."

"Who is Lurch?" he asked then saw his missing beer in front of her. Drinking the soda, he glared as she finished off his last beer.

"The butler. Sorry, I would come up with names for him while he would take care of me." she said with a bitter chuckle. "I mean as far as prison's go, mine wasn't that bad. I had a bedroom, a living room, a very nice bathroom, I just couldn't leave. No books, no television. All I had time to do was think. Though, he was thoughtful enough to get me my favorite soap, I will never use it again."

Shivering as he was reminded of being held by Sonny and that had only been for days, he asked "So, they were talking.

"Nik was telling Lurch he had given me some drug that Elizabeth used to fake her death and he had overdosed me. Lucky me, I could have waken up before he had the brain surgery, then I would have been dead, just like poor Emily." she said with a sigh.

"Anyhow, Lurch and he would have meetings down there, I don't think they knew I could hear them. I overheard Nik whining on and on about killing Emily, how he hadn't meant to do it and how he loved her." she said looking ready to throw up.

"Then I heard my name, and I started to piece things together. The night of the ball, Emily was supposed to die according to the Mr. Hyde version of Nik, Dr. Jekyll had no idea what his other half was doing."

"Emily had walked in on a conversation he had been having, regarding financial difficulties with his company and some less than legal business going back to Stefan Cassadine and Lorenzo Alcazar involving your family. He covered with the ball but 'Mr. Hyde' was worried."

"Drugs, prescription drugs." he said.

"Exactly, but Nik was promised they would stay out of PC, but it wasn't happening and he was angry about it." she said not really sure on that. "Anyhow, the night of the ball, Trevor planted a bomb to kill Jason Morgan on a boat, he was arguing with someone about it."

"Who?" he asked.

"I don't know but Ian Devlin was at the dance, he was there to keep Nik in line, but something went wrong. I think that your dad showing up added to the confusion, but that wasn't it."

"Could it have been Morgan?" he asked.

"No, it was something to do with a woman." she said. "That is all I know."

"Sam, maybe?" he asked pressing her on it.

"No, all I know is that the man whose face I didn't see was shocked to see some woman at the ball. He said she couldn't see him, that the gig would be up." she said shrugging. "I later saw him with Trevor and Jerry Jacks. Sam did as well and that was why I was grabbed."

"I think that Sam was somewhere she shouldn't have been." she said "I know that Nik thought it was me. I figured out that I saw him free that night at a time he told everyone he was tied up."

"That idiot Lucky and Sam freed him, I heard about that." he said shaking his head. "What else?"

"Nik screwed something up, involving Elizabeth Webber his grandmother was pissed about it. She agreed to free some money... if he got with Elizabeth."

"Why, wait... crap." said Johnny. "I might know a big part of this."

Johnny was a bit surprised when she knelt on her knees and said "Tell me,now."

"I will, I will, but you do know you are very bossy." he said amused to see her moue, "Here I thought that little pout was a Maxie thing."

"Talk to me, mob boy." she said her hands on her hips.

"Sam McCall and Lulu were in Franco's studio. Sam marked were Jason had arranged for my sister to be buried." he said shuddering at what he had learned. "She had some grand plan to convince him to marry her so she couldn't testify in court."

"Sounds like her, she doesn't have a lot of brains."

With a knowing chuckle, he continued. "Lulu was in on it, I think that had something to do with Elizabeth, Ethan is working on that part. "

"This Helena woman, might know the same truth, that Ethan and I found. Sam isn't Alexis' kid. Who knows where that girl is. At first I thought Elizabeth, since the wicked witch was so intent on … But it wasn't that."

Georgie looked up her mind racing and said "What about this one, Nik is the same age as Sam, what if they were switched?"

"Why?" he asked.

"The line of inheritance, only a male child. But in a way I hope not. That would make Sam and Lucky brother and sister."

"Okay, I need a drink after that one." he said and went to raid his cooler. "We have wine, wine and more wine, I am pathetic."

Standing awkwardly, she came over and took out a bottle of the red and said "This one."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I like Lambrusco." she said with a smirk. "Okay, back to lifestyles of the sick and incestuous. Hey, I'm not kidding, Helena was related to Mikkos. I will toss out that theory, only because your right, it is gag worthy."

Offering her a glass and the bottle, he opened the Merlot and joined her without bringing over a glass. "Then what else do we have?"

"I am not sure, let's shelve this and come back to it." she said before going to the next question. "Nik couldn't kill me, but what was the reason, why me?"

"Maybe he intended to marry you or something." he said only for Georgie to laugh and say "Uh, not likely."

Her laughter dying, Georgie said "Wait, there is another theory, what if Nik isn't a Cassadine."

"We already dismissed that one." he reminded her. "Maybe you should stop drinking."

"NO; wait, Lulu was sick as a kid, she needed a... no, turn that around. What if Lulu isn't a Spencer?" she asked. "Laura got pregnant really quickly when she returned. What if Lulu is a Cassadine."

"Okay, still don't get where you are going with this?" he asked.

"Nik, what if he is Alexis' kid, Lulu is Stefan's, I remember the big brouhaha when we were kids... let's say, Nik is Alexis', Lulu is the rightful heir."

"What is Helena's stake in it regarding Elizabeth?"

Falling back so her head rested on the seat of the sofa, she said "Hell if I know, and you are right, I have had too much to drink on top of the pills."

"Are you nuts?" he asked as he went to her.

"Relax, I only took an aspirin in spite of what Nanny Robin wanted." she said. "Let's throw all this out and figure it out tomorrow, I am tired and need to find a bed."

Turning her around after her head didn't move, he chuckled when he realized she was asleep. Picking her up, he tucked her into his bed saying. "This is turning into a bad habit."

"I don't have any bad habits, they aren't allowed I have to be the good Jones girl. Good thing, though." she muttered in her sleep.

Johnny was at the door when he heard her say "Otherwise, I would do something stupid and I think you would break my heart."

Going back down stairs, he looked at the top file and carried it upstairs. Sitting down at the piano, and playing softly as he thought about it, he looked at the dates and said "Oh, crap, we have this whole thing wrong."

Running down the stairs, he picked up his cell phone and called Morgan. "Where are you?"

"The safe house you found me at when Elizabeth was missing why?"

"I am coming there, I have this figured out." he said then went to call Ethan. "Find Luke and meet me at Jason's safe house."

Placing one more call, he said "Jason's safe house."

Dante looked at the clock then at the girl sleeping in his bed and said "What is it?"

"I figured it out and we will explain when we meet you all there."

"Who is we?" he asked. "Morgan?"

Hanging up without answering, Johnny called one more person and ordered them there. Before he hung up, he said "Hey, you have a daughter, how do you wake up sleeping beauty?"

Hearing the answer and knowing he was about to make a mistake, he went into the bedroom and leaned down to Georgie. "Hey, Princess Aurora wake up."

Curling up next to the sudden warmth, Georgie moaned in her sleep. "Georgie..."

Not getting any answer, Johnny thought about what she had gone through earlier that day and was about to pull back when she sat up and said "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." he whispered back.

Leaning in, she kissed him and after a stunned moment, he deepened the kiss starting to ease her onto her back when he realized she had fallen back to sleep. "You are going to be so mad at me tomorrow."

Writing her a note, and taping it to the taps on his whirlpool, Johnny left the penthouse needing to tell everyone what he had discovered.

Meanwhile at GH, Elizabeth and Patrick were leaving the locker room after changing scrubs as Epiphany took the patient to post op. "I think he will live."

"Where is your faith in me, Nurse Webber." he said only for her to laugh. "The bigger question is, who is that masked man?"

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 18

Dante was told to be quiet as they all arrived at the safe house. Looking around, he saw Luke Spencer, Johnny, Ethan and Jason along with Patrick Drake who looked tired. That along had him curious but when Elizabeth and Robin joined them, he looked at Johnny and said "Okay, what did you figure out?"

"Georgie and I.."

"Wait, Georgie was with you tonight, do you know where she is now?" asked Robin as she pulled out her phone and called her dad. Johnny took the phone away and said "My place, asleep."

"OKKAAAYYY, so calling Mac might not be a good idea." she said with a knowing grin while Patrick smirked as he figured out who sleeping beauty was.

"Elizabeth, I am sorry, I know you would prefer if this was done elsewhere, it's why I have them setting up outside." said Jason while two of his former guards quietly and quickly were putting a table and patio chairs in the yard on the warm summer night.

"We are fine, this involves all of us, but Johnny, I am surprised Georgie didn't want to be here if this involves why she was kidnapped." she said.

"I couldn't wake her up." he said remembering. "I tried but knew that it was time sensitive."

"Sir, we're done." said the men who took the payment then left. The rest soon noticed they were one chair short but Jason solved the problem by pulling Elizabeth onto his lap.

They all looked at Johnny who gave them a brief synopsis of Georgie's and his outrageous theories earlier. Elizabeth couldn't help chuckling at the Lucky/Sam one, but said with regret. "No, unfortunately, Nik is the Cassadine heir."

"I know, I was reading something earlier and started to put together some dates. I was trying to organize this in chronological order. Elizabeth and Robin you two know the time line better than me, please let me know if I am wrong in this. Luke, I need you to listen and let them verify."

Johnny made a quick run through, from Luke meeting Laura until he got to the wedding. "Helena shows up, curses them, kidnaps Laura and at some point while she was gone, Nik is born. At the same time, Alexis while still a teenager gives birth to a child assumed to be Sam."

"It is Sam." said Robin.

Johnny quickly says "No DNA tests were run."

Seeing the surprise around the room, he said "They should have been. What I don't get is when you saw Trevor Lansing's name, why didn't something stop to think he might have a reason for setting up a false trail?"

Everyone stared at him as Jason groaned. "Or better yet, that a certain con woman has good reason to want a connection to that family?"

"Because it was Alexis and she hated her." said Jason as he banged his head on the back of the chair.

"Sam knew she was adopted and before she ever showed up in town. I didn't know until I was reading a file tonight that Jax was once married to Alexis."

"In name only." said Elizabeth as she explained about that particular quad.

"How do you insinuate someone into a suspicious town run with a large mob presence?" he asked then said with a smirk. "You don't do it directly, you play chess."

"Jax and Sonny's rivalry." said Robin getting it. "But the baby?"

"I didn't get that one at first. Then I saw a list of bank accounts. Morgan, how much did you offer her not to abort the kid like she had others in the past?"

"Ten million, Sonny's money, why?"

Elizabeth had a smirk as she planned to tease him later, said "How much was Sam offered by whoever hired her?"

"An even million to set him to be killed." said Johnny. "If it wasn't for that stupid hurricane, none of the rest of this would have happened. She stayed, more than likely thought she was safe from retribution since she hooked up with you, Morgan."

"Who hired her?" asked Jason as he went through his past list of enemies.

"A woman hired Sam, she was chosen deliberately for her resemblance to Brenda Barrett. Julia Barrett wanted revenge on them for what she perceived as his guilt in what happened to her sister."

Hearing them swear, he said "Jax to a lessor extent but she loathed Sonny. I know all about it because my father forced me to go along as one of our men went to make a hit in Florida. The Keys to be exact."

"The hurricane kept us from landing." he said. "She was given several options for getting close by this woman, Alexis and that paperwork was one of them."

"What little I know about Julia, she would have kept an eye on him, even after they ended." said Robin. "I also think I know who she hired to get the information."

"Felicia." said Luke. "She would have access to WSB records."

"Who is Felicia?" asked Johnny wanting to make sure everything was air tight.

"Uh, the girl asleep in your bed's mother." said Dante to the surprise of the others. "Mac has a photo of her and I remember taking her statement after the Franco mess. You, on the other hand disappeared, Zachara."

"Taking care of a few things." Like setting up the destruction of Sonny Corinthos.

"But how does that tie into the other stuff?" asked Patrick from where he was sitting.

"I didn't get it, not at first but back to the time line." Johnny went over what he knew, Laura's return and Lucky's birth then the family leaving and returning, Lulu's birth, the attempt with Alexis on Helena; he continued. "Lulu got sick, the Cassadine's arrived and you learned that Nik was Laura's son when he saved Lulu. But Lucky didn't match, right?"

"Yeah." said Luke recalling all they had gone though.

"Georgie was considering that one, we at first came up with the Sam as Laura's kid, but for Nik saving his sister." he said and watched as more than a few shuddered at that idea again. "We then wondered if Lulu was a Cassadine, but she isn't."

Seeing them looking he said "To get back to the time line. Cassadine for some reason wanted GH, so he pulled some shady financial shenanigans that came back to bite him in the ass a few years later. Leading to the mess the company was in when Nik took over."

"When this Stefan came back from wherever he was, he made a deal through his backup lawyer to allow drugs in through the Cassadine shipping lanes. I know most of you know how crazy my dad is, but Dante, what is the one thing he won't deal in."

"Hard drugs." said Dante remembering his time as Dominic. "We were a bit surprised considering..."

"Trevor wanted to, even sent Ric to make contact with the Alcazar's. Elizabeth, I am not sure how much of your relationship with him was set up but..."

With a sad smile she replied. "I uh, I was pregnant, it was why I married Ric. He seemed rather pleased with himself at the time. I later took that as being because of the Sonny mess."

"I don't think so, I think he wanted connections in Port Charles. The Quartermaines, Spencer, you are tied to literally every single family in town one way or another. She was even connected Sonny even if that was a mess at the time and more importantly... Trevor knew that she was connected to the Cassadines. It went to hell because I think he was in love with you."

Seeing they didn't get it, he said "Normally people, married people talk, about their friends, their family, their jobs to one another. Ric had a pipeline to the very people that Trevor wanted to know about."

Sam was lying awake in bed, a bit worried at what Georgie might do. Maxie's sister had the names and if she started making connections, the house of cards would collapse and she would lose what little support she had in town and if Jason found out the truth... oh, no, that could not happen.

Seeing her door opening slowly, she deflated when instead of Jason, she saw Spinelli in the white lab coat and fake glasses. "Goddess, goddess, how are you and the child who is going to win you back the man you love doing?"

Getting an idea, she pretended to cry and said "I am not well, Spinelli. Jasin, has come to see me in a while and Alexis just lectures me when she is here. Maxie's little sister cam and attacked me, I have had no peace and my doctor only visits every other day."

"Oh, my poor sad goddess." he said sitting next to her bed. "Alas, I am afraid the kidnapped one is slowly losing it. She has had the worst day and as a result has claimed that the child of my master's heart tried to force himself on her today."

Blinking a bit as she put that one together, Sam gritted at the reminded of how much Michael meant to Jason. However at least Georgie would cease being a problem, they all knew Jason would do anything for the kid.

As Spinelli rambled on, Sam was plotting out her next step. Deciding to sent the kid to Jason, she teared up and made him promise to get Jason to come and talk to her soon. "Thank you Spinelli, it is great to know that I at least have one friend left."

"You goddess, you deserve everyone's friendship... after all you have gone through and sacrificed for this town." he said backing out the door.

In the back yard at the safe house, all were watching Johnny who kept explaining about Trevor and his need to control things. "Ian Devlin was at the ball, helping with Nik, yet the Prince claimed to have never met the man until later. Georgie and SAM saw meetings between Jerry and Trevor, Jerry and Ian and finally Jerry and Nik."

"Do you know why Emily died?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, when Nik flipped that switch or whatever it was he did during the blackouts, his other side needed Emily to die to protect his financial cut in whatever was going down. She overheard him and he played it off like that ball was all he was planning. Also that bomb in your speedboat, planted by Trevor, but then we already knew he had a good idea what was going on that night."

Telling them what Georgie said about a mysterious guest not wanting to seen, he asked if anyone else remembered seeing anyone they didn't know at all.

Dante said "It's getting late and I need some sleep. What is going on Zachara. What do you know?"

"That the father of Alexis' child was in town." he said grimly. "I also know that he is a cop or at the very least an informant."

"How do you know that?" asked Dante.

"When we were taking down Franco, Jason that Roy was talking to Scorpio and another man afterwords. One I SAW the night of the ball with someone I haven't seen here since. This Jones guy landed a copter and took him away, a bit strange for a man I know to be a low level mobster."

Luke who actually knew the players in question was completely confused. "Are you saying that Frisco and Alexis were involved?"

"No, but he knows the man who was. I saw him that night and I have seen him before, when I was a kid. Unless I am wrong, just like Georgie had to have."

"Who is he?" asked Robin by now annoyed.

"I don't know his name, but I do know that he is the father of Alexis' kid. Mainly because of the DNA." said Johnny who saw the expressions. "Jones was involved with the man brought to GH today, he left according to my people when they dropped him off at Mercy."

"One other thing, Ethan and Luke, get another DNA test done. Here." he said tossing down their samples in front of Drake. "Read these."

"Are you sure they belong to them."

"Yes, Ethan yours was taken during the mess with Kristina, Luke, who knows when they took yours." said Johnny.

Drake looked at the results, then said "It's not a match."

"Holly lied?" asked Luke disappointed.

"Does that really surprise you Luke?" snapped Robin.

"So, where do we go from here, minus the Whose Ethan's dad bit?" asked Dante. "Do we confront this man, find out what he knows?"

"No, we run DNA tests." said Johnny.

"Oh who? I thought Sam wasn't Alexis' kid?"

"On someone else." said Johnny. Then added. "Me."

There was total quiet in the room as they all looked at him. "Georgie pointed out that Sam and Nik were the same age, but they weren't born in the same month. Sam and I were born in the same week and Trevor was involved with both births."

"Uh wow." said Robin while Dante looked at him and asked "How long have you suspected? Why didn't you say anything?"

Jason closed his eyes, "This is why you were so involved with Molly, this is why you cared."

"Yes. I was worried that my keeping the secret of who I was so that Anthony wouldn't have me killed was endangering my possible sisters." he said quietly.

Turning to Robin, he said "I was going to ask Georgie about Frisco, but knew that Maxie sounds very bitter about her parents, what can you tell me?"

"Not a lot." she said. "I mean, I knew him when he was a cop, when he worked with my mother. But I was a kid. So you think he brought this man here?"

"Yes and I think they were investigating Nik all this time. Which begs the question, why didn't they find Georgie?"

There was a disquiet to the warm air as they all started to go their separate ways. Jason kissed Elizabeth who said "I know you have things to take care of."

"I will be home in the morning." he said deepening the kiss. "What?"

"Home, a one bedroom safe house in the middle of nowhere and you are right, it feels like home." she said kissing him before getting off his lap. "Go, take care of things, the boys and I will be waiting."

As they parted, Robin was telling Patrick that she wanted to test her DNA against Ethan's, if the Aussie was willing. When they had pulled into their garage, after checking on Emma and Matt who was watching her, they didn't mention that surgery had ended a few hours earlier, Robin just said goodnight laughing as her husband found some energy someplace to carry her up to their bed.

Ethan was feeling awkward as they left, "Do you want me to move off the Haunted Star?"

"Heck no." said Luke. "Tests or no tests, you are a Spencer, just maybe not by blood."

Luke was rubbing his aching back as he climbed into bed, thinking that the two non blood Spencers, Elizabeth and Ethan had been better Spencers than those who were by blood. Shaking his thoughts away, he fell asleep something nagging at him.

Dante went home and saw his mother asleep on his bed. She had broken down earlier, finally telling him that she was pregnant and Sonny was the father. He was sick to his stomach on her behalf but knew she had raised one child on her own and that things were much better for her than the last go round.

Elizabeth washed her face, then set the alarm so the boys would be ready when Monica showed up later that morning before climbing into bed between the twosome. As she drifted off to sleep, she was amused to imagine Sam's response when she learned that Johnny was Alexis' real child.

Johnny had gone back to his place, only to hear a soft knock. Letting in Morgan, he said "How did you know?"

"That there was more?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sit down, I will get us... no, I won't." he said glaring at his stairs. "I have no beer left."

"Then just tell me." he said.

"Sam made a deal with Jerry in Mexico, to save herself from some trouble. She has been feeding him information on shipping lanes and such. Zachara lanes in exchange for you."

"What do you mean?" he asked dreading the answer.

"I don't know that part, just that the deal was reached. It is why I thought Sonny was attacking my share of the business and partly why I was retaliating. It ended when he died after Franco."

Standing, Jason moved to the window that had had the blinds removed and said "I missed living here without all the clutter."

"Why didn't you put a stop to it, then?" asked Johnny.

"It was easier to let others do what they wanted." he said with a shrug. "I can still recall coming home and finding that Brenda had remodeled my place. I told her as long as my pool table was left, I didn't care."

"But didn't Maxie pull it out?" he asked.

"That should have been a warning to me, but by then... I had lost who Jason Morgan was." he said. "So, Alexis?"

"I wasn't sure." he said. "The dates gave me the proof. I am not sure about telling her though. If it wasn't for what I heard that night..."

Jason gave a half grin and said "The others were tired, but eventually they are going to figure out that you didn't tell us all you know."

"I saw him once, meeting with Trevor. I followed him to town. He went a few places. Down by the docks, an office building and strangely enough the police station followed by a house. I did some research. It belonged to Anna Devane. I kept following him. He was at the station again, I saw his shock when he saw Alexis with Mac Scorpio."

"And from this you figured he was your father?"

"No, what happened next. He was leaving when I saw him talking to Sam. He hired her to trail his 'wife'. An hour later, he took a DNA sample to a lab and had it tested. The wife, turned out to be a hooker who was paid to seduce some random man at the Metrocourt. I followed the check paid to Sam and Spinelli. It traced back to an old mob account."

"Who is it Johnny?" asked Georgie from where she was on the landing, shocking both of them. "And why didn't you wake me?"

Hiding his smile, he said "I will tell you all I learned. And I don't know who he is, but the name on the account was J. Paget. It was for an ..."

"Antiques store." said Georgie as she sat down abruptly. Johnny raced up the stairs worried her knees had given away only to be told "It's not my knee, well it is but out of shock. Oh my god. He is your father?"

Swallowing he said "I think so, why, who is he?"

"Jonathan, Jonathan Paget aka Duke Lavery and if he is alive, oh my god..." she said in shock while Johnny looked at Morgan who seemed in shock.

Jason said. "The son of Angus McKay." Seeing Johnny's expression at the name of the old time Irish mobster he said "Yup and if he is alive... we have trouble."

"Why? I mean he had a chance to take down the mob while here."

"Not that kind of trouble, the kind where if Robert Scorpio finds out he is alive, all hell will break lose, let alone if Anna find outs. Oh, poor Robin, she really liked Duke." said Georgie as she sat there. "That was it. I saw you, in the hallway then him later. I thought it was you and was going to ask you to help me get Nadine back to the ballroom. But it wasn't you and then I ..."

Looking at him, Georgie said "That is what has been nagging me, I have only saw pictures and home movies... but wow... it makes more sense now why I... he is back looking like his old self, his original self. My dad knows, oho, Robert is so not going to be happy."

Jason had to hide his grin as he left Johnny's penthouse. Georgie and he were still sitting on the stairs and he had seen the expression on John's face and it had nothing to do with learning about his possible father. More like exploring the young woman in front of him.

Thinking about Georgie, his mind went to the bruises that were now showing rather vividly on her body. He had two more places to visit before he took care of business and one was not going to easy to do. It had taken everything in him, when Johnny was beating on Michael to not intervene.

Arriving at the station, he didn't go any further than Mac's office, before the man asked the desk sergeant to bring up Corinthos and place him in room one for Jason. "Are you sure?"

"He needs to know what is going to happen from here on out." said Jason as he watched the blond being led into the room. He could see the now swollen nose and lip as Michael limped into the room while glaring at the cop.

"Michael." was all he said as he looked at the teenager. "How is your cell?"

"How—how is my cell? Why am I here would be a better question, why haven't you arranged for me to be bailed out?" stormed the boy as he rattled the chains that attached him to the table. "What is taking so long?"

"I don't understand." said Jason. "Why would you think I would be getting you out?"

"What the hell? Why would I … what... get me the hell out of here, you owe me." said the kid in a flat tone of voice. "Do you f-ing job and get me out of here."

"No."

Michael looked up and said "Look, we both know that in the end, you will get me out. It is what you do, it's why you exist."

"No, it isn't. I didn't go to all this trouble to get you placed here to bail you out." said Jason who saw his anger turn to rage. "I was the one who sent Ethan after Dante while Johnny hit you a bit. I was there, hell, I watched."

"How dare you?" hissed Michael. "My father..."

"Oh, you haven't heard, have you?" glared Jason. "Sonny isn't coming to your rescue. I think we discussed this already. And I control the money, so no bail. And unless your mother who is curled up in bed, sedated suddenly gets her mind back, you are on your own."

"No, I am not. I have my trust fund." he said smugly.

"No, you don't. And Michael, I spent years trying to fix things for you, no more. Never again because this time... I wish that I had been the one to catch you. To do what you did... there is nothing lower."

"Oh, please. Georgie was begging for it." he said only for Jason to reach out and grab his arms and squeeze.

"No, she wasn't. You had a knife, you went there to hurt her. God, even AJ would walk away from you now." he said in disgust. "I am gone, I came to tell you, that you have no one. No one is going to ride to your rescue this time. For once in your life face up to your mistakes, be a man."

"Why? I have you." said the kid as Jason got up. "You will be back, you always are. Like I said, that is your reason for existing to wipe my ass."

Jason kept walking, as he left the station he sat down on the bench outside. Taking a deep breath, he thought about what just happened and felt a hundred pounds lighter. With one more stop to go, he quickly went to County.

Sure enough, Spinelli was outside of Sam's room on what looked like a computer. "Where did you get the laptop?"

A bit shocked, Spinelli grinned and said "Stone Cold, it is good to see you."

"Really?" he asked then added. "I need a word with Sam and well, you might as well be in there."

Walking in, Spinelli was planning their future life, back in the penthouse with Sam carrying the baby around in a snugglie while Stone Cold and they saved the world.

"JASIN!" she said upon waking up. "I knew you would..."

"Jerry Jacks, Mexico and a whore house, ring any bells?" he asked then saw the moment she changed tunes.

"Oh, Jason it was terrible, I had to do what this big fat man said and he made me do terrible things. Please understand, I didn't want to."

"Sam, I am talking about your deal with Jerry. I know it all."

"That bitch, I knew she would figure it out, too bad that my idiotic cousin didn't kill her." she screamed. "I had everything in place, I was going to win you back... I was going to have the life I wanted... everything would have been mine."

"Georgie didn't. Johnny Zachara did. The mistake you made, was in making that x on the map at Franco's." he said as he saw Spinelli frown. "She was aware that things weren't going well, so she decided to try and trap me into marriage."

"No, you are wrong. You love her, it wouldn't be a trap, more like encouragement." said Spinelli with a grin. "She wasn't going to deliberately get pregnant unlike the woman ..."

"Don't even think about Elizabeth like that I am so sick of the two of you thinking she trapped me. Hell, if I had known about those condoms, I would have still used them with her. I wanted a connection, a life with her. Now I have it." he said then added. "Sam, I am talking to Alexis today. We had DNA tests ran. I know the truth. How is Julia Barrett by the way?"

Seeing her pale and one of her machines beep, he said "Be very glad you got pregnant, that is the only thing keeping you alive."

"I knew it, Stone Cold, I am so glad, we can return to our penthouse in the sky and..."

Spinelli was flat against the wall. Sam heard the machine start to beep faster when Jason said "That kid is the only person who actually loves you. You might want to do your usual con job and keep him, no one else wants you."

"Please, you wanted me, you couldn't get enough of me." she said with a smug grin.

"You were no different just a lot easier to access than some woman down at Jake's plus one I didn't have to pay." he said walking to the door. "Sam, I made a mistake the first time by actually caring. This time, you were a convenience."

"I knew you loved me." she said triumphantly.

"No, actually you were a replacement. For all that I thought I had lost. We tried, I did care but looking back... I saw what I wanted to see and only trusted you with business and the Corinthos family. I never brought you to my real family, I never told you about the real me."

"The real you, I knew the real you, I worked beside you. I was there when we were in danger, I was there when we had Michael with us, I AM the woman who truly is your equal."

"You don't get it, I don't want a mirror image, which you tried to turn yourself into. I wanted a dream, heaven." he said quietly. "And for that, well you need an angel not a con."

The nursing staff hurried in as Sam started screaming while Jason walked away from her. Let her learn that they knew everything and that there was no place to go. Soon, that baby would be born, and it's mother would die.

Johnny had talked to Georgie for a while longer than told her to head back to bed. "I can't keep taking over your bed."

"You aren't." he said. "Go, get some sleep. At least one of us should."

Standing, she turned and asked "Uh, where is my bag?"

Walking up with her, he pointed it out in the closet then said "What do you need that for?"

"Your shirt, while long enough, isn't really pajamas." she wanted out of it, it had caused a few really strange dreams involving both of them being naked.

Once she was down, he went to his piano, only to hear light footsteps, as she asked shyly, "Do you mind if I leave the door open a little."

"I will turn out the light." he said only for her to protest no that she was enjoying hearing him play.

At the end of the piece, Johnny saw she was fast asleep. Going to grab a pair of sweats, he saw the lace hanging out of the open bag and counted to ten, then did scale work in his mind before showering.

Returning, he was about to head downstairs when he noticed she was dreaming. Hearing the word no, he listened as she begged someone to let her go. Settling down, next to her, he found himself in a tight grip as she rolled and grabbed onto him.

As she slowly calmed down, Johnny found himself falling asleep. Kissing her on the top of her head, he said "Oh, this is not going to end well for me this it?"

Jason had climbed into bed with his family as soon as he arrived only to wake an hour later with Jake sitting on him. "Daddy?"

"Yes?" he asked only for the blond to say "Up."

Looking longingly at Elizabeth who was fast asleep and Cam who was sprawled out on the lower half of the bed, Jason followed his youngest orders and helped him get up. Being led into the living room, Jake dropped his hand when he spotted something and rushed over to the table.

When he saw the little boy had the chimney, Jason went over to help him place it on the dark green wooden farmhouse. When Jake had done so, he held out his hands to be lifted and grinned before giving a Jason a wet sloppy kiss on his cheek saying Daddy.

The man felt like his heart would explode. While Jake had been saying daddy, he had thought his son was just following his elder brother than anything else. But the kiss, the first offered bit of affection from his young son reminding Jason of the day before when he had heard Cam call him daddy and the day, the first time he woken up with their mother in his arms.

"Daddy, breakfast?" asked Jake as they walked to the kitchen. Setting Jake into a chair, Jason heard a knock on the door and after checking let in Monica. "Mom, why are you here?"

A bit stunned at the Mom, Monica said "I am taking the boys for the day. Elizabeth said I could."

Hearing her defensive tone, Jason realized she thought he was unhappy she was here. "I was aware of that but I thought it wasn't until nine."

Seeing her sudden grin as he pointed to the clock that barely read seven, he laughed and said "Uh, what time did you think it was?"

"I didn't pay any attention, I just showed up as soon as I got dressed." she said sheepishly. "Grandmothers get to do things like that."

Hearing a rumbling, she turned and said "Poor, Jake, are you hungry?"

The look he gave his dad was part annoyed, part entreaty as he said "Yes."

"Monica, can you cook something for him while I wake the rest of the family?" asked Jason as he headed into the bedroom. Hearing Jake's breakfast request, Jason was glad she showed up, he had never made waffles in his life.

Returning to the bedroom, Jason had a sneaky thought and quickly woke Cam whispering "Your grandmother is making waffles."

The little boy was up and out of the room as fast he had could run. Turning to Elizabeth, Jason smirked when he saw she was on her stomach fast asleep. Moving her hair out of the way, Jason kissed her exposed neck. Then moving her shirt out of the way, her shoulder and was about to wake her when his son thwarted his attentions.

"DADDY! Come on, stop kissing Mommy, grandma is making pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse instead of waffles." said an excited Cam as he rushed back into the room and started tugging on Jason. "Com'n you can kiss Mommy later."

Elizabeth had woken up when Cam had slid out bed and had been enjoying the quiet attention so the excited youngster's statement had her burying her head into the pillow but Jason's muttering that kissing mommy was more fun had her shoulders shaking as she tried not to laugh out loud.

"I know you are awake and don't bother getting dressed. As soon as those boys leave with my mother we are so returning to this room." he said as he left, looking back at the woman who had rolled over and waved at him. "You are not nice."

"Not being nice would be telling you that I have to go to GH today." she said then seeing his face said "Told you it wouldn't be nice, especially since I took the day off."

Seeing her impish grin, Jason said "Oh, no, you get up then, we are going out. I think you don't get any more kisses for picking on me."

"That's a shame." she said stretching as she stood. Seeing Jason's eyes on her exposed stomach then taking a look at the door, she dropped the shorts and said "I am going to take a shower, but I think you are wanted in the kitchen. Daddy."

His head thumping against the wall as she walked to the bathroom wearing her small pajama top and lace panties, Jason said "You don't fight fair."

Stopping at the door, she said "Oh, are we at war, in that case." The shirt came off and was tossed at him before she closed the bathroom door.

Laughing as he returned to the boys and Monica he saw her knowing grin and said "What?"

"According to Cam, you were too busy kissing to get a pancake." she said pointing to where the little boy was eating two. "You have to wait until after Jake's second one, now."

Carly woke up still curled up in the ball she had become the night before. Taking stock, she said "Pissed off husband, again. Youngest child and son with him, again. Oldest child the one I gave my life up for, now an attempted rapist. Ex-husband with yet another child on the way, again. Oh, and said a young girl who never did me any harm wasn't pretty so why would my son attack her. Yup, stuck my foot in again."

Jax stood in the doorway, at first thinking Carly was talking to him, then he heard the rest. "What the hell do I do now? God, Jax should take Morgan and Joss and flee. I can't leave and I can't stay. What the hell do I do now?"

"How about trying to talk to the pissed off husband?" he asked only for Carly to rise and scream before falling back onto the pillows. "Is that a no?"

"I figured you would be long gone. Australia, gone."

"Not without my wife." he said calmly. "Want to know what I heard in that little list.

"Sure, tell me." she said then staring up at the ceiling added. "You know, we need to do something with our ceilings, they are rather boring. Maybe some fresco's or something."

"I heard you facing some harsh truths and no mention of Jason."

Mac called Robin who said "Georgie is fine. Have you heard about our newest patient, he came in wearing a mask with a police escort."

Getting her uncle to look into it legally, Robin plotted how to keep him from learning about Georgie's whereabouts and still have him looking into the case.

When her husband came into the living room carrying their daughter, she asked "Did you get the feeling Johnny was holding something back last night?"

Hugging his wife, he said "You have been watching too much NCIS, but yes, I did. I know what you are thinking and don't."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because you need to let Georgie be." he said then added. "Look what happened when Maxie was pushed. Do you really want to help create that sort of mess again?"

"The thing is, Georgie isn't Maxie. She will think this through and realize what a bad idea it is to be involved with him."

Patrick didn't agree, he thought that Georgie might actually have found someone that would let her be. Johnny didn't give a crap what people thought of him, and that was something the younger Jones girl needed. A man who would fight with her and for her.

Georgie woke up, her body aching from the attack the day before. As she went to move, she felt the heaviness of blankets around her, then flushed as she came to realize that it wasn't a blanket keeping her warm but a body behind her with an arm around her waist.

"Would you please turn that brain off, I can feel it screaming at me." rumbled the man behind her as he tightened his arm around her waist and said "Go back to sleep, no one knows where you are and you need to recover."

Johnny thought she was resisting when she moved and loosened his arm not wanting her to feel trapped but instead she rolled so she was facing him. When she touched his face, her palm rubbing against his morning beard, he said "What?"

"Thank you." with that, she was soon back asleep and all he could think was no, this was not going to end well as she curled up next to him.

Watching as Luke sat at the bar drinking his breakfast, Ethan thought about Kristina and then about his own feelings in regards to this secret before going to hunt down Brooklynn in her studio.

"What are you working on." he said sitting next to her at the controls.

"Nothing much, I see your sister let you off your leash." she said smirking at him. "Are you okay?"

"Luke isn't my dad." he said bluntly. Seeing her expression he told her about the DNA then said "If you knew a secret, one that if you told would help people you care about, would you do it?"

"Depends on if my need to help them was for selfish reasons or was truly altruistic."

"How do you know?"

"Are you going to feel better after the truth is out or worse?" she asked while fiddling with the controls. "I learned a secret years ago, one that if I told would ruin someone I care about deeply. While it would have helped me be able to be with him, I knew it would destroy him. I walked away, with it kept."

"You, you and Dante." he asked quietly. "You knew about Sonny?"

"I overheard my mom." she said. "She suspected, and I hated that I had figured it out and so wanted to tell him. Instead I went off to school, stayed away. Now it is too late, he has moved on from whatever we had. I am okay with that in spite of the truth coming out. I wish things were different, but they aren't."

"You should tell him." he said as he let his growing feelings for her go. Kissing her on the forehead he stated. "He might surprise you."

Elizabeth kissed her boys goodbye as Jason led her to a car. "What is this?"

"A car, when you push down the gas petal, it goes forward. If you step on the brake, it stops." he said with a serious expression. With a sideways look, he said "You and I have some houses to look at. Diane gave Monica the list."

Pouting a bit, Elizabeth asked "The car? Why can't we take out one of the SUV's."

"I sent them to the garage then on to a dealer. I saw Spinelli last night, trying to activate something and it was for the same brand as your car." he said quietly. "Cody picked them up and we are both getting new vehicles. I also let his probation officer know."

A bit pissed, she said "I liked my truck, I am going to kick that little cretin's rear from here to Buffalo."

At the fourth house, they visited, Jason could see that Elizabeth liked it. It was the least secure of the houses but that could be changed. "Is this the one?"

"What do think about it?" she asked a bit worried. "We are going to be getting that pool table back or I am going to be making Maxie as miserable as she made me last year."

"Yes dear." he said. "By the way, she sent me a note of apology for that. Not for writing letters to me supposedly from you or for what she did to us, but for the pool table."

Laughing, Elizabeth said "Why am I not surprised?"

"I went to see Sam to let her know that her time is almost up." he said grimly. "I also let her know that I know it all. She tried to blame everyone else, like usual."

Dante was making Kristina eat a healthy breakfast when he heard a knock at the door. Peeking through the eyeglass, he hesitated then opened the door.

"We need to talk, Johnny has to tell Alexis the truth about Sam's parentage and who her real child..." oh crap. Thought Ethan as he saw Kristina sitting there eating cereal. "Oh, I will..."

"Oh no you don't." said the girl popping off the bar stool and getting between him and the door. Wishing his momentum hadn't carried him in so far, Ethan looked to Dante for help but saw the younger man was watching his sister.

"What are you talking about. Sam isn't Mom's? I have to tell her." she said then rushed out the door.

"Are you going to stop her?" Ethan asked only for Dante to hold up a set of keys and a purse.

"Do you really think that is going to stop her?" he asked. Dante thought about it then swearing said "She still has her phone, she sleeps with the damn thing."

The two men rushed out of the apartment, chasing after the young girl who didn't realize she was still wearing her pajama bottoms and a t-shirt along with her slippers. "Damn, she is fast, where did she go?"

Hearing his car backing out of his parking spot, Dante turned around in time to see Krissy waving goodbye. "Annoying little brat."

"Stop admiring her smarts, we have to warn Johnny and get to wherever she is going first." said Ethan. "You go to the Lake house."

"Where are you going?" asked Dante. Hearing the answer, Dante said "That is where she will go. Let's move it."

Krissy arrived at County first and was on the same floor with Sam when she saw her mother entering the room. Listening as for several minutes, her sister berated her mother, she finally had it. "Well Sammy, since you really aren't my sister or her daughter, why don't you just do that."

"Krissy..." said her mother only for her middle child to turn and say with a smug grin. "DNA tests, they don't lie unless of course Spinelli get's access to them. So Sam, shall we arrange for some?"

"My daughter saved your life? How can you..."

"Tears? Really?" asked Kristina "Is that the best you've got? Sam, Dante knows, so does Ethan and my guess is that somehow Johnny Zachara is ..."

"Kristina. no." said Dante as he and Ethan rushed in. "We don't know for sure he is Alexis' son."

Kristina turned then thought back. "That is why... here I thought you were trying to stop me from telling because of Sam."

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" snarled Alexis. "Sam isn't my child and somehow Johnny Zachara is? How is that possible?"

"Real easy when Trevor Lansing is in the middle of it." said Patrick as he entered. Looking at the two men then Kristina he said "It took two of you and she still got away."

"She's pretty slippery." mumbled Ethan while Dante just laughed as he looked at his sister who had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Sam in the exact same manner Alexis was at the rest of them.

"Patrick, what is going on?"

"A long story and one that since Ms McCall isn't family, she doesn't need to hear." he said then looking at the woman in the bed said "I let Mac know, he is going to be speaking to Alexis about having you remanded back into his custody if she is willing."

"If she isn't my child, then yes, I am." snapped the attorney. "I want to know what is going on through."

"Come with me." said Luke from the doorway. "I have something I want you to see. Oh, Sam, Mac will be getting to you in a bit, right now he is hauling Spinelli off to a mid-level jail for violating his probation."

Once in a small room that Patrick got a hold of, Luke said "Julia Barrett found out your secret by hiring Felicia, then planned on using it to take down Sonny. The bait got preggers and wormed her way in. She had to have figured out her hold on Morgan was tenuous at best so decided to add another layer to that mess as well as giving her access to money and a reason to stay in town. You."

"What I don't get is Zachara, how is that one possible, not Sam, other than Julia the rest of it isn't a shock." she said annoyed.

"We don't know that part of the story." said Patrick who then saw his wife entering with an amused grin on her face. "Mac called. You do know that Zachara is going to be pissed, don't you?"

Hearing a soft chuckle, Robin turned to see Jason and Elizabeth entering the room. "You guys as well?"

"We were on our way to see Diane about the house we are buying." said Elizabeth when she had entered.

"Really?" she asked then pulled her friend off to the corner "Then what is up with the glow?"

"Let's just say we didn't take the direct route and Jason got to do something he has never done before." she said with a smirk then whispered something that had Robin laughing as she said "Oh, can I be the one to tell Carly?"

"No, you can't. I want to do that one myself." said Elizabeth with a smirk. "Anyhow, since we didn't want to get arrested for indecent exposure, we were heading to town when I had an idea."

"Here?" asked Alexis as she walked over.

"We saw Robin pulling in and came to see what she was up to." admitted Elizabeth.

Alexis said "Fine, then will someone please explain to me how John is my son and how you figured it out."

Elizabeth looked around the room, Ethan left quickly dragging a protesting Luke along. Robin stopped and asked him to meet them at GH. "We have to see what happens with Lulu, she had to go in front of the judge today."

Dante was going to stick around but Drake said to his wife "We have a patient and Dante you need to get the sample I am going to take. Our lab can't run it."

Soon it was just Alexis, Kristina and them. "Are you going to answer me?"

"No, we are going to take Kristina home and let her change. Alexis, you want answers, go to the source." said Jason. Seeing Mac at the door, he asked "Did she show up?"

"Yes, with a lawyer, then left without visiting with him." he replied. "She apologized before leaving. Gave me a phone number and said Jax and she were taking the little ones away then returning."

"Alexis, are you okay with me doing this?" he asked.

"Yes, I was willing to take a chance before because I thought she was my daughter. Where are you taking her?"

"The only place that has room for her and medical care that will be secured. Shadybrook's state wing." he said both of them aware of the grim conditions that the other side of the hospital covered. "When the baby is born, he will be given to Spinelli if he isn't in jail or placed in a foster home if she won't let it be adopted out."

Alexis felt bad, then made a call. "I will take care of it. You made the right choice, Alexis."

"I want to visit her once she is there." said the attorney. "I would do it now, but I don't think she is going to be ready to face what needs to be done until she is locked up there."

Jason and Elizabeth were telling Kristina about their house when Mac and two medics rolled Sam out of her room on a portable gurney. "What is going on? Am I being transferred to GH?"

"I told you, Miss McCall, you are going to a secure medical site, after you give birth we will have your trial." he said. Seeing her smile, he saw it fade away when she got a look at who was standing next to Jason.

Elizabeth looked down at the ring on her hand, the ring that Jason had described as a promise ring and moved closer. "Good luck Sam."

Glaring at the woman, Sam saw the ring and then saw Jason enfold her hand into his and said "You bitch."

Elizabeth just looked at her then said "No, Sam, that would be you. You had a chance at a life, but you blew it for revenge. You have had chance after chance and screwed every single one of them up. Do that baby you are carrying a favor... walk away, be a good mother a good person for once in your life."

"This is my baby, mine. Jason will be back, he always is." she said "I know he will."

"Sam." Elizabeth could think of lots of mean and nasty things to say but honestly... she didn't have to say a word as Jason tugged her hand as they took Kristina and left.

Looking at the woman in the gurney, Mac saw Morgan just looked at her and walked away. Watching as she was placed in the ambulance, he said to the attendant. "I will ride with the driver."

Johnny woke up to hunger and was going to get some food when he heard splashing in the tub. "Do you need anything?"

"No." said the suddenly high pitched voice as Georgie felt her body reacting to his voice. "Uh, do you need to shower?"

Feeling his face, Johnny grimaced but said "No, not yet but hurry up so we can get something to eat."

Downstairs, he went to the kitchen tossing his t-shirt on the table while he opened the fridge. Grimacing when he realized he didn't have anything to eat, he was grabbing the milk when he heard a knock on the door.

Seeing Maxie standing there was a bit of a surprise but she seemed more annoyed than anything else. "Johnny, I need you to get that little freak to leave me alone."

Pushing her way in, she looked around and said "What happened, did you fire your decorator already? I told you I could take care of this for you from New York if you wanted."

Looking at his place, he said "No, it's how I wanted it. Maxie, Spinelli is your problem, you created this mess now deal with it."

Sitting down, she went to pick up the file next to her but he grabbed it and tossed it into the box. "You know, if you help me, I won't let my dad find out that you stole a police file."

Standing, she walked over to the man who still hadn't put his shirt on and said " I heard you ended things with Olivia, I mean, we should consider..."

"Consider what, Maxie?" said the voice on the stairs wearing a towel. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes almost popping as she grabbed the sliding towel, Johnny went up to the landing and said "Are you okay?"

The blond felt her jaw drop as she looked around then at her sister still wet and from the looks of things sleeping with John Zachara and said thoughtlessly. "I know what Michael did was bad, but seriously, Georgie. Having sex with Johnny isn't the answer, I mean have you thought about dad. This is more something I would do."

"You, you stay right there." snapped Johnny at the blond before walking behind Georgie as she went to get dressed. "I need to buy bigger towels."

"What was that?" she asked as she turned around and grabbed the towel yet again.

He had found himself reaching for the ends of the blue towel when it yet again started to slip. Without thinking, he started to tuck it when he saw her eyes widen then turn a darker brown. He was leaning down to kiss her when they heard

"What happened to the rest of the bedrooms? GEORGIE! Are you out of your mind?" she asked when she saw Johnny's hands on the towel and Georgie's on his bare arms.

"Georgie, you can't do this. He is ..."

"MAXIE, get out. Go home and I will see you when I get there, otherwise I am going to toss you off that balcony downstairs. Got it?" snapped her sister while Johnny found himself in the awkward position of not being able to turn without the blond realizing how much he wanted her sister.

When she had left, Georgie removed his hands and said sadly "That is why this can't happen. After all my sister has done, Mac doesn't deserve this."

Walking to the bathroom where she had her bag, she changed. Leaving she saw him sitting on the bed and walked over. Seeing him stand, she grabbed her shirt that was still out there and felt his hands tracing her bruises.

Looking up, she saw his expression and pulled his head down to kiss him quickly. She could hear his ragged breathing as she walked to the door. "I wish that things were different."

Elizabeth was listening as Jason told her what Georgie had figured out and said "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. Business wise, that is up to Johnny. I am done. We have our answers and the only one still with questions is Georgie. We let them do what they have to. Alexis too." he said pulling her into his arms as they stood on the dock watching the boys and Monica fishing.

Jason felt the ring he had given her that morning while they were out looking at houses and said "I need to talk to you."

Walking away from the boys, they were soon at the main house. "I know what I asked you this morning, but I want to take it back."

Seeing her shock and pain, Jason flinched then said "No, I mean, why does this always happen why I try to talk to you."

"Jason, what are you trying to say?" she asked as she saw his frustration.

"I want us to get married, now, not later, not two months from now. Now!"

"Right this minute?" she asked.

"Yes, please?" he asked. She could see it in his eyes that he was serious.

"Okay." she said.

"Just okay?" he asked a bit worried.

"Okay, I will marry you now."

"Good, I have something I need to show you." he said as he hurried her to the car. Arriving at the house they had just agreed to buy that morning, she said "Jason, we don't own it yet."

"Yes, we do." he said then pulling her up to the master bedroom, opened the closet. Seeing the dress she wore to the black and white ball, she looked at him and saw him flush.

"Why do I think this isn't as spur of the moment as I thought?" she asked only to be told. "A hairdresser is on her way, Monica is getting the boys ready with Annie and Audrey's help. I left the rest up to Edward and Alice. And Reginald." he said.

"Jason?" she asked. "What is it?"

"It is August, the 17th, he said with a hurt expression on his face until he saw the smile that spread across Elizabeth's. "Marry me, be my love?"

"Yes!" she said.

At four that afternoon, Elizabeth was delivered back at the Quartermaine mansion where her brother was waiting in dark pants and a white shirt with a dozen red roses wrapped in baby's breath. "Are you sure?"

Nodding, she felt like crying when they entered Lila's rose garden and found their two families waiting while Father Mateo stood at the other end with Jason dresses similarly to Steven as he watched her coming his way.

After a very unique service in which Jason and Elizabeth pledged their love, they were solemnly handed paperwork from Diane. "For your future."

Inside were altered birth certificates for Jake and Cameron as well as Morgan Enterprises. Kissing her client on the cheek, Diane said "Now all is forgiven."

Looking at his wife, Jason said "Thank you."

"I love you." she replied then added. "However, if you turn into Edward, I am not going to be like Lila, there will be a butt kicking to get you back to you."

"I promise no suits, no Wall Street Journal, no..."

"Jason, I love you in a suit on occasion. You were very lucky during the case about Lorenzo, I didn't jump out of the witness box and attack you right there. Between the hair and those suits..."

"So just for the record, you liked the way I looked then?"

"Yes, there is just something about you with porn hair." she said laughing at his confused expression. "I will make you a deal, give me a little girl and someday I will explain."

"Gladly, my love, we can get started on that immediately." he said lifting her and calling out good night to the boys and the rest of the guests. As they left, Elizabeth laughed and said "We never had any cake."

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jason woke up holding his wife and couldn't help recalling the first time they were together at the safe house. "What is that grin about?"

"You, I was remembering the first time we were here." he said raising his head to look at her. "How happy I was that we were together."

Elizabeth looked at the rings on her finger and the matching one on his and said "I never had faith we would end up here. I wanted to so badly, but before I just didn't trust myself to reach out for happiness."

"We both were scared, for so long. I swore when I was being held... crap." he said groaning. "Elizabeth, the man I was being held with. He looked familiar but I didn't know where from. He was at the ball."

"My mystery patient, Johnny's mystery mob man and your fellow captive were one in the same?" she asked a bit surprised.

"Yes, I do." Looking at her, he said "I have to go and see him."

"Right now?" she asked then looked at the clock and said "Jason if he cleared things up, he is probably with Georgie."

"He didn't." he said then saw her looking and said "I saw Ethan while plotting yesterday, he said Johnny ordered Cody Paul to keep an eye on Georgie. He happened to mention that Johnny looked rough."

Elizabeth sat up and Jason saw what he would be walking away from and said "I can talk to him tomorrow." as he went to pull her back down only for her to stop him.

"Jason, go, find him." she said with a smile. "I am going to head to the hospital. Epiphany's shift starts in an hour and this way I can clear my schedule for the day."

"Then you are mine." he said kissing her neck as he carried her into their shower. "I have plans for you."

As they were drying off fifteen minutes later, Jason found himself heading back for bed with his wife and forgetting all about Johnny and this mystery man when he heard someone knocking at the door.

Kissing her one last time, he went to see who was there. "Alexis?"

"I need your help Jason." she said. "I need to get Mr. Spinelli in to see Sam."

"Then go to Mac, I won't help." he said. "Why would you think I would? Why don't you just let this go?"

"Because Damian Spinelli has a tape of Kristina hitting Claudia Zachara and he is threatening to make it public." she said in defeat.

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" he asked annoyed. Seeing Elizabeth coming into the living room, he told her what Alexis needed.

"I will take care of this." said Elizabeth, "I have a few words I want to give to Mr. Spinelli."

"What?" he asked only for her to say "Trust me?"

Kissing her, he said "I hope you are sure about this, there is something wrong with that kid."

"I know." she said then making a call asked Gail to meet her at the station.

Arriving, Elizabeth waited for Spinelli in Interrogation Room One and saw Johnny being brought in in handcuffs. Distracting Alexis, she said "I will be right back to deal with our little blackmailer."

Entering Mac's office, she could smell the liquor from across the room while Mac looked at Johnny in disgust, she heard what was being said.

Calling Jason, she asked "Can you go to the Scorpio house and get Georgie to come down to the station."

"I thought you wouldn't want her near Spinelli." he asked as he pulled into the Towers.

"This is about Johnny, he was brought in, with some cuts and bruises along with the stench of Jake's after a long night." she said before going to listen to Gail now that the geek had been brought up.

As he protested, insisting that Jason would never walk away from a child, she entered and said "Isn't that what you wanted him to do to our sons?"

"No, I mean I wanted him to raise his progeny with the Goddess, just like this new child, she is the -" Elizabeth smacked Spinelli in the nose causing him to bleed.

Alexis reluctantly announced. "Elizabeth, you can't hit a cuffed prisoner."

"Alexis are you DA again?" Getting her no, Elizabeth said "Gail would you testify that I was temporarily insane?"

"Oh course and considering the extenuating circumstances, I am sure that Ms. Walsh will agree to time served." she said then looked at Spinelli. "Young man, Jason Morgan isn't going to come to the rescue your misbegotten child. Step up and sign those papers, allowing the child to be adopted or raise your child yourself."

"Gail, as much as I would like to believe that your earlier suggesting is true, it is more likely that he really is this stupid." said the woman to the shock of the geek when the doctor suggested he needed mental health help.

"How can you talk to me that way, I am Stone Cold's best friend? So much for you being the sweet and innocent maternal one." he said his feeling hurt.

"I used to be but you and the rest of the manipulators in our lives ruined that. Right now, I want you to listen. Jason is all for letting you fail, letting you face the way things really are, but I can't do that. There is an innocent child about to be born. One you helped create."

"But Sam's miracle child is to mend the gulf that you had torn between the Goddess and my master, I was only the facilitator of creation."

Alexis once again felt like she should protest when Elizabeth struck out and smacked the kid again. "No, you are the only person this child has to depend on. If you agree to my suggestions, you don't go to jail, otherwise you are facing prison, Mr. Spinelli and let's face it, a person like you won't last a week."

"A day if he is lucky." said Mac from the entrance. "Elizabeth do you have a moment?"

Seeing Jason, she handed him what Diane had worked out with Claire and walked away with Mac to see Johnny and Georgie standing toe to toe arguing while Maxie was sitting cowed in the chair.

"What is going on?" she asked only for Mac to say "I have no idea. Georgie showed up with Jason and then Maxie arrived not two minutes later."

As she stood there listening along with Mac, she saw the older man look at his blond daughter then back at her sister as what Georgie was claiming got through to him. "Dammit." he whispered as he figured something out that should have been obvious years ago. "ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU SIT DOWN."

Johnny just about fell into his chair while Georgie glared at him in disgust. "Okay, first of all Maxie, this is none of your business."

"But dad, she is making a mistake, you can't let her do that." she said then added almost like she was compelled. "Besides, I knew him first."

"And that is your entire problem. Johnny flirted but wasn't interested in more, yet he has known Georgie how long? And that bothers you because you can't stand that Georgie might have a guy's attention that you wanted, one who didn't want you back."

"But daddy, no, she is..."

"Go home and Maxie I dealt with Spinelli, I told you that on the phone." said her father. "Return to New York, then spend some time thinking about this... Why is it Georgie isn't allowed to be happy with Johnny if they want to try. You did with Spinelli, you almost married the idiot."

"Daddy, because she is Georgie!"

"Yes, I know, you are the only one allowed to make mistakes in this family well no more. I will talk to you later, but for now, I think you need to figure out who and what Maxie Jones is."

"But Kate wants to transfer me back here." she mumbled.

"So that is what this is about." he said looking at the other two who where sitting in stony silence. "You are returning and want a boyfriend on standby. Too bad for you that the man you chose wants Georgie."

Maxie was leaving when she saw Dante and her smile started to grow. Well if not one, then maybe the other interesting man her age. "Take that smile and run. Or I will make you wish you weren't born." said Brooklynn as she entered the station.

"Oh, please, if it isn't the wanna be rock star. Why are you here?"

"Too see my old friend, or did you forget I grew up in Bensonhurst?" she asked Maxie who had. Growling she walked out then tried to figure out where she was going to live. There was no way the new fashion editor was going to be living with her dad, no way at all.

Inside the station, Jason told Spinelli. "They are offering you a deal. Parenting classes along with some mental health help and you get your child, otherwise, Sam and your baby ends up in a foster home."

"But Stone Cold, fair Samantha has assured me that you will be raising her daughter." he said looking at his mentor.

"No, I won't. Any child I will raising will be Elizabeth's, just like our sons." he said then added. "Spinelli, you need to let this love of Sam go. She is going to prison, that baby is going to be all alone. Do the right thing."

Spinelli sat there then said "I will be honored to raise Sam's child, I know that you will be there for us and that will please the goddess."

Jason looked at Alexis then said to him "I want the tape."

"What tape?" he asked then said "Oh, I left it at the penthouse."

Getting the location, Jason asked "Harper did you get all that?"

"I did." said the cop entering. "Damien Spinelli we are charging you with two counts of extortion, as well as that you violated your probation, we also have you on hacking charges regarding an attempt to activate the tracking device on Elizabeth Morgan's car."

"WAIT!" said Spinelli. "What did you just say, but no, Stone Cold wouldn't marry her, he is going to marry the Goddess when she is set free, we are going to live..."

The door closed as Gail and David Harper took Spinelli back to his cell. Waiting was his attorney, Diane Miller having agreed on Jason's request to take the case only after he explained what he was up to. "Mr. Spinelli are you okay with me acting as your lawyer."

"Thank god, the legal eagle, she will get me out of this." he said grinning at Claire Walsh who asked Kevin Collins the court psychiatrist if he concurred with Dr. Baldwin's findings.

Before Spinelli had the sense to figure it out, he was taken to Shadybrook and locked up as a danger to society. Mac and Diane had had him labeled a national security risk, thereby making sure he wouldn't be let free for many many years.

However Mac was rather busy at the moment, dealing with his youngest child and the stubborn man who seemed to have drunk the entire city's whiskey contents. Taking Elizabeth off to the side, he said "He seems to have started early yesterday at Metrocourt finally ended up at one of the dive bars on Courtland Street."

Looking at him, Mac said "I think the only places he missed that had alcohol were the Haunted Star and my house."

Her lips twitching as she looked on at the scene in front of her, she told Mac "Uh, I don't think she is, uh, never mind. Still mad."

Turning, Mac saw his daughter had out his first aid kit. When she snapped at the drunk gangster to turn his head, she was already holding it and twisting as she picked up the bottle of alcohol and poured it on the open cut.

"Sir, don't you have peroxide?" asked Harper as Dante joined them in watching the scene in front of them. When Georgie snapped "I thought you liked alcohol." Mac said "I do, it was right next to the other bottle."

Watching, the group winced at every cut and bruise while Georgie seemed to be taking her time cleaning him up. "What were you thinking?"

"Isn't this what the criminal class, the dregs of society are supposed to be doing. Getting drunk, picking up whores and..." he snarked the anger and hurt in his eyes as clear as day.

Mac flinched when his daughter grabbed the mobster by the back of his neck and said "You did what?" in a low hiss. "What are you thinking, do you have any idea..."

"What do you care. I mean why would you care, after all, I am not good enough to be around the girl with no bad habits, the woman who has to be perfect so her daddy doesn't get upset." he sneered.

"Oh, please, don't go there." she snapped at him. "You know what Maxie had done to my dad, public sex on the internet, helping a fugitive escape, actually two different fugitives if you add her undercover cop boyfriend to that. Stealing drugs for Lucky in exchange for sex, pretending to be pregnant, and helping Cooper escape the law when he was one of the Metrocourt robbers then blackmailing Scott, that is all before this you came to town. I don't know half of what she has done since I was kidnapped."

"So, what does that have to do with you?" he snarled. "You are not Maxie, you shouldn't have to make up for her sins. Maybe if you weren't so busy trying to save her and protecting your dad, you would see..." he stopped talking as he looked at her.

When he leaned in to kiss her, Harper wanted to laugh at the appalled look on Mac's face as instead the tired drunk fell asleep face first into his daughter's chest.

Georgie couldn't help laughing as she tried to ease him back, she instead heard him moan as his hands encircled her waist. Seeing her dad's face made her come down to earth as she hid her emotions and asked "Dad, are you going to let him sleep it out in the drunk tank?"

Recalling he still had Michael down there and deciding that it might not be a good idea, he said to Harper. "On your way home, dump Mr. Zachara on my nephew-in-law at GH."

"Georgie, we need to talk." he said then cleared his office.

Jason was waiting and said to Alexis, "I know you want to talk to him, but for now... I think you might want to wait until he sobers up."

"I am so confused." she said to Diane as they walked out of the station. "What is going on?"

"Well, while you were so obsessed with protecting your not so daughter from the fallout of Franco, your son has slowly been clearing the decks, so to speak. In between he has had several very heated run-ins with Georgie Jones. In an attempt to avoid another mess like Elizabeth and Jason, Mac has decided to point out a few things to his daughter. I am guessing that the same man seems determined to not make Jason's mistakes."

"Hey?" said an offended Jason from behind them. Kissing Elizabeth he said "I am getting rather tired of saying goodbye to you today but I have to deal with something..."

"That better be getting my pool table back." she called out to his amusement.

"The pool table that used to be in Jason's penthouse?" asked Diane.

Harper saw Steven Webber walking across the parking lot and called out to the doctor. "Hey, can you lend me a hand?"

"What happened to him?" he asked as he got a whiff of the liquor and said "Never mind. I can even guess what caused it." The man had been updated by Patrick Drake in regards to his possible parentage.

"Unless it is about 5'5", brunette and answers to Georgie, you would be wrong." said the man as he dumped Johnny onto the bed before heading home to sleep.

Steven was ordering Lisa to administer a banana bag when he heard his name being called. Leaving he went to see what the FBI wanted. "What may I do for you?"

"I want to see the patient you have in room 1042 but a Dr. Drake is refusing me entrance." said the agent.

"Do you have a subpoena, without one, I have to defer to the doctor." he replied only for the man to make a point of suggesting he was hiding something since his brother-in-law was Jason Morgan.

"I would not do that again. I told you hospital policy, get a subpoena, otherwise the patient is off limits." he said firmly.

"You are impeding a federal investigation." threatened the fed. "I could have you up on charges."

"Agent Raynor. I used to work for the FBI, I know how they work. So I would guess that this is off the reservation and like I said, get a subpoena."

Raynor was determined to find out if the rumors were true and there was no way he was leaving without seeing this man. If he was right, the arrest of this man would make his career.

Stopping to see his informant, he said "Thank you, can you keep an eye on Mr. Zachara?"

"Father or son?" asked the woman. "Are you sure he is the man you think he is?"

"Anthony Zachara has been locked up without complaint for two years, no manic episodes, no outrageous demands. My guess is that Morgan helped Corinthos switch him out so as to keep his father in law out of jail."

He had gone to see Lucky, had offered him a deal. If he got proof that Morgan helped free the old man, he would have the man transferred closer to his family.

In Mac's office, the man watched as his daughter cleaned up the first aid kit then carefully put it away. "Do you really believe that?"

Turning she asked "Believe what?"

"That you can't do things less than perfectly because of Maxie?"

Trying to shrug it off, she found herself gently pushed into a chair. "Georgie, if I ever made you feel that way, I am sorry. I didn't mean to. You have no need to be perfect. I love you, no matter what."

Looking at her dad, Georgie said "I know that." Standing she was soon back in the chair as Mac said "No, no platitudes. I want you to listen to me, _really_ listen to me."

She tried to turn away and Mac said "What Johnny said, about you, I want the truth... do you feel like you can't have bad habits?"

Frustrated, she looked at him and said "_Why can't you be like Georgie, Maxie, why can't_ _you get as good grades, Maxie._ Then there was the whole Dillon fiasco. I stepped out of line, just once and suddenly everyone around me is a bad influence, I am lectured and grounded. What should I think, yet Maxie did worse things every SINGLE TIME we turned around, so don't tell me that I didn't have to feel like that."

Mac walked to his desk and sat down on the front of it. "Georgie, I love you, I didn't like Dillon, but that was strictly Dillon. I could see from a mile away that that was going to end badly."

"Yes, I get that, but you wouldn't trust me to make my own mistakes." she said wiping the tear trying to fall. "Dillon, Dillon was me trying to learn how to be me, not this perfect child, this perfect student, this who knows?" she said frustrated. "Then it blew up in my face, I am so sick of trying but it is all I know. I am not Maxie, Dad. I know that actions have consequences and we both know that my seeing Johnny... with what he is doing... and who his family was."

Mac knelt in front of Georgie and looked her in the eyes and said "Georgie, listen to me. I spent two years without you here... I spent two years regretting every single mistake I made with you."

Swallowing his pain, he said "I want you to be happy and I know now that you think you have to make up for Maxie... but honey, you don't. Do I wish you had developed feelings for someone else, yes, I do. But in the end... the man, isn't all that bad."

Laughing at his grudgingly given okay, she said "But dad..."

"No, and I really don't want to know details, if you don't mind. I had enough of that with Robin and Drake, okay?" he said then kissing her on the top of the head said "Live your life, that is all I want you to do."

Dante was at his desk when he got the call. "Sir, it's a match."

"Thank you." he said then went to call Patrick Drake.

"Was that about the Marston Case?" asked Mac as he watched his daughter leave.

"Uh, no a different one." replied Dante then said "Have you talked to Robin?"

"This is about the mystery patient?" he asked then said "It sent Raynor in a tizzy when I told him he didn't have jurisdiction."

"Tenth floor, Nurse Johnson speaking." said Epiphany then promised to have Patrick call Dante.

Raynor waited until the agent in front of the door had left for some reason and slipped into the room. Seeing the full facial bandages, he snorted. Did they really think he was that stupid as he got a DNA sample and left. Dropping it off in Albany as he went to the city to set up the arrest, he ordered them to hurry with comparing the results to Zachara.

Elizabeth arrived at GH and after a quick talk with Epiphany about her schedule went to see Johnny. Listening as Lisa lectured the patient about the ills of alcohol, she said "How is the patient doing?"

"If his blood alcohol level was any higher he would be dead." she snapped. "What an idiot."

When the blond had walked away, Johnny stopped faking being asleep and lifting his head said "So are congratulations in order or was that part of my drunken dreams?"

"How are you feeling?" she asked the man as he saw up and itched where the needle for the IV bag was in his arms.

"What does this stuff do?"

"It sobers you up a bit." she said "I have to ask, did you miss a single bar?"

"No, contrary to what Scorpio thinks, I didn't miss the Haunted Star." he smirked then said "My head doesn't feel so good."

"I am not surprised, what led to this?" she asked leaning back against the small chest in the room.

"Oh, I was plotting and I should happen to mention I was hoping to get arrested." he smirked as he said "I have a plan and frankly you really don't want to know about it."

"Does it involve murder or any other felony?" she asked only to see him shake his head no. "Maybe a wartime siege?"

"How did you guess?" he asked a bit shocked.

"Let me guess a visit to Jake's? A conversation with Coleman. I have been through this before." Only that time a baby had been involved. "So what is the plan?"

"I had a few, each more outrageous than the last." he said. "Want to hear them?"

Looking at her watch; then the banana bag "We have an hour before Jason picks me up and I think you are going to need another bag. I can change it and keep you from listening to Lisa's self-righteous speeches on the evils of drinking."

"First, I was going to make sure I committed a crime with her as a witness so she would have to marry me." he said then saw her face, "Yeah, too many variables could go wrong, so I tossed that one out.

"Then I decided to just lay siege but figured that one might get Mac pissed off and have me arrested for trespassing." he said as he explained. She was laughing when she turned to see that Monica was listening from the doorway with a similar reaction.

"And a touch overboard." said Monica as she came in and looked at the bag. "How are you feeling?"

Lisa had asked the cardiologist to take over, she had gone to treat a patient she had described as more worthy. Epiphany had come in to check on the patient and found herself realizing it was past time for her break as she listened to the mobster's rather outrageous plans involving winning Georgie's heart.

A bit later, Elizabeth said "Have you come to realize what you are doing wrong with all of this?"

Getting a bit more serious, he said, "It's not her heart that is the problem, it's her head. I think I finally figured that one out about two this morning when Coleman said it was closing time."

"It's strange... I was involved with people before. Lulu was fine with it, until she altered her personality for Dante, which in the end did her no good since she showed her true colors soon enough. Then Olivia. That man from the bar last night, he asked it I was trying to relive my childhood. I hope not because that would be a bit fu-er messed up."

Epiphany gave a laugh before going to the door. "My break is over, but a word from someone older and wiser, Mr. Zachara. Talking, straight talking works best, though I have to say some of the less extreme stuff you were talking about, isn't too shabby either."

Monica looked at Elizabeth and said "The boys are down in daycare, so that you know. They insisted on visiting with their friends. Edward was a bit jealous."

At the Scorpio residence, Lulu was telling Maxie how she couldn't wait for her to return to work. "Lulu, I won't be doing my old job. I have been promoted."

"That isn't fair, we were hired at the exact same time." she whined. "Why didn't I get a promotion."

"Maybe because my sister actually has a background in fashion, and knows what she is doing. Lulu, get out of this house." said Georgie as she tossed down her purse. "Or did you forget to mention to Maxie how you egged on Micheal's attack on me."

"I didn't do that, just as the judge." she said. "He agreed that while I might be morally culpable, I wasn't criminally."

"And this makes what you did okay?" asked Georgie. "Get out, don't come back and a word of advice, if you see me coming go the other way."

"Oh please, like you are any threat to me. I was just visiting with Maxie, I can be here as her friend." she said. "Or didn't Maxie tell you how we are now BFF's now."

"I don't give a crap who she is friends with, however, you had better get the hell out of my dad's house. This is a Spencer free zone. And more specifically a zone forbidden to ANY child of Laura Spencers. So get out."

"Maxie, will you-" "Ouch, what do you think you-" Georgie had dragged Lulu to the door by her arm and tossed her outside before locking it. Turning to Maxie she said "Amazing, I had heard it, but didn't want to believe that you would befriend the girl who made my life so miserable before my death."

"Just like I can't believe you would go and sleep with a man you knew I liked." stated Maxie as she got in her face. "How do you like knowing I had him first."

"No, Maxie you didn't and not from lack of trying." she said then saw her sister's expression. "Yes, I know all about it, but does Johnny know that you were offered money from his sister for that exact purpose?"

"No, I thought not. I love you Maxie, but I have no illusions left about you." said Georgie. "Stay in town, leave, I don't care but know one thing. I am done fixing your mistakes, I am done trying to make up for all your screw-ups. And I am done with living here."

"Wait, we can be roommates." said Maxie with a happy sigh, living arrangements solved.

"No, we can't." she said looking at her sister. "I am getting my own place, you will not be living with me, because I don't trust you."

"Georgie, I am only looking out for you, I hate to hurt you, but Olivia is pregnant and it his child." Maxie didn't know for sure who the father was, but who else could it be.

"Wow, thank you for proving my point. The child is Sonny's, Olivia told me so herself at the same time she told Johnny. They both confirmed they hadn't been together for over three months when it did happen. So keep it up, keep lying but Maxie... all it does is widen the gulf between us."

Lisa hung up the phone, Claire and she had declared an uneasy truce in regards to her love life a few months ago, but with her roommate heading to Albany for the weekend, it would make the blond doctor's plans all the easier.

Walking down the hallway, she saw Robin on the phone with someone then say "Thanks Mom, I am glad you are coming. Hopefully you can figure this out."

Perfect, if the bitchy wife was occupied with the mother-in-law, Patrick was sure to run, sure to hang out at the hospital rather than dealing with what was sure to be a critical bitch just like her daughter.

At the hub, Elizabeth and Jason were thanking Monica for keeping the boys when Annie arrived to talk to Epiphany about the latest crop of nursing students. "How is everyone doing?"

"We are fine." said Elizabeth while Jason took the boys off to visit with Johnny. "And when is this big date Grams was talking about?"

"Tonight and I wouldn't classify it as a big date. I am having dinner with Mac Scorpio. And it is just dinner." she said in a warning tone. "He was getting close to Alexis Davis when she lost her license for the hit and run and they sort of ended on a whimper."

"I heard." said Elizabeth hugging her. "Good luck."

As night fell, Georgie watched as her middle aged dad went out on a date, Maxie went off to stalk whoever and Robin called to ask her over for dinner while she went through the rental offerings.

"No, I am going to take a walk, then maybe call Brooklynn." she said. Robin gave Johnny a thumbs up and saw the man leave quickly and hopefully sober enough for whatever he had planned.

As she went through the park, Georgie stopped on the steps and heard the sound of children's laughter. Around the corner, she saw Elizabeth's boys and what looked like Kristina playing tag. When Cam grinned at someone then went straight towards her, she thought he was hiding until he touched her and said "Tag, Georgie's it."

"Hey, no fair." she called out then chased slowly after the imp hoping her knee was up to this. Finally after they had all evaded her, she saw the perfect victim and ran up to Ethan who was talking to a blond and said "Tag, your it and they are slippery."

Returning to Elizabeth on the bench she said "Is this the safe zone?"

"Yes, how are you doing?" she asked as she saw the bruising in the fading light.

"With what happened with Michael, I see it in flashes, but am talking to people when it happens and as for Johnny. I am not sure. Mainly because I don't know where I stand and I think I need to figure that part out first."

"Anything I can do?" she asked just as the entire group came running through. Poor Dante who was coming to get Kristina had been touched and was now it. Looking around in confusion, he said "What do I do?"

"Geez, you would think you never played tag before." said Kristina only to be hit on the arm and told "No, I just am more conniving than you. By the way, I do believe that you are it."

Kristina stood there for a minute, shocked then glaring at him said "I will be back and you will be buying me a steak tonight."

Alexis hesitated before approaching the two women her family and non family had harmed. "May I?"

"Yes." said Georgie standing but smartly keeping her hand on the bench when she saw Dante and the boys close.

Elizabeth said "How did it go?" Diane had mentioned the papers they had drawn up for Sam in regards to her child but Elizabeth was sure that she had refused to sign them.

"It' didn't." said Alexis. "I always swore I would never convince someone to give up their child, yet, here I am. There are some people who should not be parents."

Hearing the ice cream truck, Jason who had been planning on tiring out the boys for his own plans with their mother, soon found himself helping Jake eat his rather large Popsicle while Cam was guarding his against his mother.

The small group who had been dragged into the Morgan boys' impromptu game had slowly been leaving until all that remained was Elizabeth and her family along with Georgie who after finishing her own sherbert shaped foot and offering up the bubble gum from it to Cam who had gone with chocolate, headed home.

"Daddy, can we swing one last time." asked Jake with a smile.

Giving them permission, Jason moved next to Elizabeth saying. "If I can't resist him, how am I going to resist a girl with your smile."

Seeing the boys were swinging, she said "I think we will be fine."

Pulling her into his arms, he said with a sigh, "We have to get them home."

"Is this about all those mysterious errands today?" she asked wondering how he had managed to plan a romantic evening when they were staying in a one bedroom house while theirs was finished.

"I was thinking we show them our new place on the drive home." he said then quietly patted himself on the back when she agreed. Looks like the first part of the plan was working.

Once the boys were in the new SUV, Elizabeth said "I am glad somethings haven't changed. You driving this oversized truck is one of them."

"Come's in handy when you want to transport stuff." he said hiding his grin. A few turns and a stop for some milk, they were in front of the house just as the night turned dark.

"The boys are asleep, maybe we should come back tomorrow." said Elizabeth disappointed.

"We can carry them, you should take another look." he said then Elizabeth hid her grin as she saw the curtains in the windows. Walking in, she saw the house was sparsely decorated with the furniture from the safe house.

Upstairs, the furniture from the boys rooms at the cottage were in their new rooms along with all their toys. Once they had awakened them just enough to wash them up and tuck them into bed, Jason said "I have something to show you."

Taking out a scarf he said "When Diane asks how this ended up here, tell her you found it when we were looking around."

"You took Diane's scarf?" she asked with a chuckle as he led her to what she was guessing from the direction was either the master bedroom or the bonus room. "Turn around."

Elizabeth faced Jason then found his hands at her waist lifting her onto a flat surface. A bit of a smirk came to his face when she placed her hands behind her and said "Is this what I think it is?"

"Uh, huh. I thought we would work on our latest project, the same place we..." leaning, Jason kissed her while untying the loose blind fold. "Well not the same place."

Looking down, she said "It's not the same one."

"I think ours was destroyed." he said before softly touched his lips to her. "Are you upset?"

"No, I mean, to me this is a symbol of who Jason Morgan is. And I like that I-" Hearing the doorbell she said "Who knew we were moving in?"

Moving away, Jason tensed up and said "Stay here, okay?"

Getting closer to the boys room, she shook her head when she heard Carly Jacks' voice. Coming down the stairs, she saw the blond and heard her telling Jason. "I am sorry, but I tried, I really did. No matter what, though, Jason, he is our little boy."

"Carly, he is your little boy, my nephew, and he is a man who intended to rape a woman while threatening her with a knife." he said sharply.

"I know that, I do, I just think he needs help and not jail time. Please, you have to help me. Jax won't. He says that it is time for Michael to face the consequences of his actions, but he is only eighteen, please, Jason help Michael."

"Carly, I am helping Michael by making him face what he did, enabling has done nothing but create this monster and the boy I saw in that room, he is not someone I will have anything to do with."

"This can't be happening." she said before leaning against the door. "I was so sure that now that you are with your family, you would forgive him for what he tried to do, please." Carly pulled out a picture of a toddler Michael, "Do you remember this little boy, do you remember your promise?"

"Carly, don't do this to yourself." replied. Jason. "You need to go back to Jax, to spend time away. I had a little talk with someone who worked for Sonny during my marriage to Brenda..."

He saw her expression, her guilt then the way it went away and said "Yeah, John O'Brien is dead, but there were others in the know. I know what Courtney and you did, to me, to Brenda, to Elizabeth. I am telling her tonight."

"Jason, please, you can't." she begged. "I know it was foolish, but I just was mad she hurt you that way."

"Carly, Courtney was stupid enough to do this in front of her guard. She was going to do that... she knew... and you helped her by digging for information. So yeah, I am going to tell her."

"What does this have to do with Michael, though? Jason, you have got to understand..."

"I don't have to do anything." he hissed. "I am done. I was willing to let you live in peace, but I had to tell my wife... Carly, want to know what else I was told?"

Seeing her expression, he said "Yeah, I thought it might have connected. Get out and don't come back."

When she was gone, Jason looked up and saw Elizabeth. "I was planning on telling you later, but I guess we should talk now."

Joining her on the stairs, he said "Courtney saw us, she went to her dad..."

"Jason, I know about the night you went to dinner at her place and what she did." she said touching his arm. "I might not have known about her seeing us, but I am not shocked."

Pulling her into his arms, he said "I am so glad you were outside the night of that fire. It's sad, but I almost wish that I had left all of them to die there."

"Jason, you would have felt guilty, its part of your DNA. We both know that if Michael had just gotten into a fight, if it hadn't been rape, you would have wanted to fix things for him." she said holding him. "What Carly is dealing with, I get. It is hard as a friend to believe that someone you care about would do something like that... yet your child, your own flesh and blood. It has got to be searing her soul."

"I just wish she would put this much energy into saving her marriage, into her other children." he said with a heavy sigh. "Now where were we?"

As she was carried up the central staircase, Elizabeth made a wish, hoping that whatever went down with Michael, Jason wasn't dragged into the middle of it.

Alexis was eating when the call came. "Thank you, when can I get the results?"

Kristina and her mother had been talking about Sam and Johnny as well as that Molly was doing so much better in Boston, even if she still was asking about Sam's baby. Ric and she had agreed to tell Molly together the truth about Sam's parentage.

"So, as I was saying, I think it is cool. I mean, I have Dante through dad, and Johnny through you. But wow, can you imagine anyone I date from here on out." she said giggling. "That part is going to be so cool."

Alexis was happy for Kristina who seemed to be getting healthier as she spent time in group therapy. She knew that staying with Dante had given her a closer relationship with her brother, and it couldn't have happened at the better time. Micheal's crime had shaken her, but she had been talking to Gail about it.

Johnny was a bit confused, where was Georgie? He had thought she was just going for walk. Hearing a sound, he turned to see Maxie standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed your note." she said holding it up for him to see with a smug grin. "Look, it's real simple. Georgie is dad's favorite, everyone's favorite. And I am fine with that, really, I am but if she wants to keep that status, doing things like sexing up you, no, she can't do that."

Johnny looked at the blond and said "So, why are you here? Why not take the note and just pretend you know nothing. Why make the drive over to here and tell me?"

"I just feel bad for you... see my sister, she isn't going to upset dad. I know how she thinks, and she would regret falling for this little seduction scene." said Maxie waving her hand around at the stereo, the food and soft lighting. "Where as I, I enjoy this. And I don't do regrets."

"That's true, otherwise she would regret her entire life." said Georgie coldly as she walked into the room. Looking at her sister she said. "Let me guess you found the note he left at the house?"

Shocked, Maxie looked at her sister and said "You and I both know that..."

"Maxie, you don't know a thing about me. Now I suggest you go home and think about a couple of things. First being how you are going to be a fashion editor in Australia, because Frisco and Mom showed up just as I was leaving. Dad and they were talking at the hospital about shipping you there."

Maxie saw her sister move to stand in front of Johnny and called out. "Doesn't it bother you that he is so experienced, of course, after Olivia, I have to wonder if it doesn't bother him that you barely know what you are doing in bed."

Georgie saw Johnny ready to say something and lifted her hand to stop him before turning to her sister and saying. "Get out."

Maxie recalled what happened to Lulu earlier and quickly left. Thinking on Georgie's info about their dad, she hurried over to GH, if Mac wouldn't do anything about this, maybe Frisco would.

"Hi!" said Georgie as she removed her hand from his mouth, only for him to stop her and kiss her palm. Her legs felt weak and it had nothing to do with being held captive. "I uh, got your note but my bio parents needed a ride."

"I'm glad. I only wish Maxie hadn't found it." he said not letting her have her hand back. Turning he hit the light switch and said embarrassed. "I uh, I didn't set this up. I wanted to talk to you, maybe more but this, I knew we had some talking to do first."

"Let's get out of here then, before whatever woman in your harem shows up to ruin our talk." said Georgie as he nodded then opened the door. Hearing the elevator about to arrive, they ducked down the stairs to the floor below never seeing Olivia.

"Where to?" he asked only for her to say "There is old lighthouse, down on Southall Road."

"I have seen it." he said as they drove. When they pulled up, he said "I am going to have to pick the gate's lock."

"No, I know where the key is." she replied then went to open it. Driving down to the lighthouse, she let them into the dusty house attacked and said "Serena's stepdad used to own this place. Or maybe still does."

Lifting the covers off the sofa, Georgie explained about nutty Lucy and stalwart Keven.

"Sounds a lot like your sister," he said as they sat down. Georgie gave him a run down of their family history, from her parents adventurous courtship, to Maxie's transplant, her dad's wanderlust and then her mother's marriage to Mac. How she had left them repeatedly, but how Mac had always been there for them.

Johnny was getting worried, this didn't sound like she was even considering taking a chance with him.

"I spent my whole life, being this good girl, this person who had to make up for Maxie's and to a lessor extent Mom's leaving." she said. "My dad and I were talking and I saw that my thinking like that... was actually causing him more pain. So we talked then this evening we talked some more."

"He was right, I am not responsible for anyone but me." she said quietly. "I told him I don't know what is going on between us, but that I needed to find out."

"So where do we go from here?" he asked as he tugged her onto his lap. "I was thinking as soon as my responsibilities are done here, maybe Paris, or London, or Rome." he said accenting each city with a quick kiss.

"Uh, you can't. I mean, don't you have to be here, keeping things uh going?" she asked awkwardly.

"No." he said amused. "We are going to have to have a talk, I am not who you think I am."

"Oh." she said slightly disappointed as he explained about Sonny and the families decision. "So, you aren't a mobster?"

Laughing he said "You could sound a little less disappointed."

"Well, I went through all this mental gymnastics, this was something I would have preferred to have known before this." she said kneeling on either side of his hips. As she felt his body's rather obvious reaction to her move, she said "Down boy, At least until we are finished talking.

Pulling her head onto his shoulder he rubbed her back and said "It doesn't change what I did in the past and there is still danger. A family pissed about something my dad did or someone who doesn't believe I am out. It's the same thing for Morgan. So what city?"

"Johnny, you still have responsibilities. Two little sisters who need you. Maybe we could start a little smaller. I don't know, spending the day in Boston or New York, or even Providence."

"Providence is out." he said regretfully. "Mob war going on."

"Oh, okay." she said snuggling closer and hiding her grin as his body hardened even more. "What about this, we stay right here and don't leave for a day or two?"

Lifting her head, Johnny kissed her, making her toes curl before saying. "Too dusty and no food. I think we get the place cleaned up, then stay here. I don't think they can see the car from the road."

Looking around, Georgie said "I loved this place, there were only two bedrooms, but I just always liked the idea of living in a lighthouse. I wonder..." Looking at her watch, Georgie took out her phone ignoring the man who was trying to kiss her and hit speed dial two. "Kevin, who owns the lighthouse?"

Listening then looking around she said "Your housekeeper hasn't been here in ages. I was wondering if you would consider selling it to me."

"No." said Johnny who found himself glared at, a look he returned while Georgie listened then said "I am fine with that."

Hanging up she said "What?"

"Do you realize how isolated this place is?" he asked.

"That is the idea." she said. "What is wrong?"

"Georgie, when people find out about us, you become a target, I just.. as lovely as this place is, it's not safe."

"Well since Jason and Elizabeth live a quarter of a mile up the road, and the Quartermaine's are across the river, I am not too worried." When she saw his confusion, she said "The new house they just bought, is that stone farmhouse and give me your gun for a minute."

Not sure it was a good idea, but Johnny did only for her to shoot at the small window. It cracked but didn't break. "My Mom and Anna Devane helped Kevin secure this place. His dad before he went crazy was a spy and his wife, believed she was required to save the world from vampires." she drawled.

"Uh, vampires?" he asked only to see her shake her head yes. "This Lucy must be rather uh, unique."

"She is and I haven't even told you about Sigmund Freud the duck. Now do you still think it isn't safe?" she asked.

"Okay, but I don't want you taking chances and since you already know how to fire a gun, maybe we should get you one." he said then seeing her grimace asked "I could assign a guard instead..."

"That's not it. I just... last time there was a gun here, Lucy shot someone, some skank pretending to be a vampire so she could con her." she said softly. "It was why they moved to Arizona, to get her help for her delusions."

As they drove home, Johnny stopped for some food in a drive-thru since both of them were covered with dust. Arriving at the towers, he said "Do you think my guest gave up?"

"Let's fine out." she said kissing him and then stealing one of his fries. When they got off on the penthouse floor, seeing Olivia sitting there was a bit of a shock, Georgie had been expecting Lulu not the older woman.

"Olivia, you did this?" asked Johnny. "We obviously..."

"No, this isn't me. I needed to talk to you and the door was unlocked and this was already set up." she said. "I am sorry, Georgie, isn't it?"

Nodding, she set down their food and said "Johnny, I have to run and see my dad about the lighthouse anyhow."

A bit pissed off at Olivia's interruption, Johnny followed her to the hall and kissed her saying. "I will call you later, okay?"

With a smile, she left and he returned to find out what his ex-lover wanted. "What is going on?"

"I know this is a bit awkward and what I want to ask is even more considering your friend there, but will you marry me?"

"No." he said rather quickly then asked "Why would you even ask that?"

"Johnny I am almost three months pregnant, the child's father is in prison until he dies and I don't want to be a single parent yet again." she replied. "We had fun, we loved one another once and I think that love could grow again, now that you are out of that life."

When Olivia felt Johnny's hand on her arm, she relaxed then looked at his grimy hand and said "Maybe we should talk after you take a shower."

"No. I think we talk now." he said then guided her back to the sofa. "Olivia, until Franco pulled what he did, I might have said yes."

"What does he have to do with anything?" she asked not sure why the deadly artist was being brought up.

"He gave me something, something I had lost without even knowing about it. And then I met Georgie." He had come to realize that he would never just settle for a half lived life, like Morgan had out of fear.

"I know that you two are just beginning to see each other, but Johnny we have a history."

"One that started as casual sex that we tried to make more. We did for a while, but Olivia, I want more, I want it all and we both know that we aren't capable of giving that to one another."

"I just don't want my child to grow up without a father." she said softly. "And there aren't a lot of men who can't say anything about Sonny."

"So because I am a mobster's child and was one myself, that is why you are asking me to do this." he asked. Seeing her face he said "Olivia, I am sorry if you are hurt by this... but..."

"The answer is no." she said sadly. "That girl, she really means that much to you?"

"Yes, she does." he said then after she had left called Georgie who said "I will call you right back, I am in the middle of taking a shower."

Hitting his head against the wall on his way up the stairs, Johnny said "I really needed that image at this moment."

Raynor got the news and said "Perfect. I need some men."

Calling his man at Pentonville, he said "You can transfer Spencer back to Attica now. We don't need his testimony after all." Tearing up the legal agreement he had offered the former cop, he hung up before the Warden could tell him that Spencer had gotten into a fight with mobster Sonny Corinthos and they had both been shanked and were dead.

As he ordered his men to the towers and to Jason's house, he drove straight to the hospital with the warrant he had obtained only to see two local officers standing outside the man he now knew was the real Anthony Zachara's door. "Let me in, I have an arrest warrant for the patient."

Standing back, they called Mac who was at the hub with Frisco as he listened to the spy's story. "And how the hell did they miss Georgie?"

"It looks like this Alfred had her in Helena's secret rooms. There was a bit of a maze and a false door. We just finished mapping the house, I am going to try and convince the city to not destroy it."

"If you do, I will slip over there with explosives myself and take that building down, do you get what I am saying." Mac asked Frisco with a deadly tone of voice.

As they arrived down the hall after Harper's call, they saw Agent Raynor and getting what he said, Mac stated. "You have the wrong end of the stick."

"No, I don't. I am going to take great pleasure in taking down Morgan, Zachara and his son." he replied as he ordered Lisa to cut off the patient's bandages. When she did, he stepped back, "No, that isn't possible, you are dead."

"Hello, Raynor, get any more informants killed?" asked Duke while Mac stared at the Scot.

"I was hoping I was wrong." he growled. "Robert is going to explode."

"He will get over it." said the man as he struggled to sit up. "Crap, my head hurts."

Lisa didn't know what was going on, but this was clearly not Anthony Zachara like the agent had said it was. "Sir, do you need medication?"

"Surely, you are the doctor, shouldn't you be telling me that?" he asked then wincing asked "Where is Drake?"

"This is a set up, you switched bodies, I will get you for this Scorpio, see I have the DNA evidence to back me up. I know that John Zachara's father was in this bed."

"He still is." said Patrick as he entered the room. "So much for a peaceful night with my wife. First Anna descends and now Agent Raynor is bothering my patient."

"I believe I told you not to do that, sir." said an angry Steven as he entered the room with two feds. "I think these two want to have a talk with you."

Agent Raynor protested his evacuation from the room while Hannah looked at Mac and said "I will be sure to let my boss know what happened here."

As the FBI agent protested the entire ride down to the ground floor, Hannah looked at him and said "You have no idea the trouble you have caused. Sonny Corinthos was murdered tonight at Pentonville, by Lucky Spencer during a fight."

Stopping the man said "What?"

"Yes, our only chance of getting what Corinthos knew about the Russians for the WSB is gone. Morgan it is clean, same with the Zachara heir. You blew one of the biggest cases in regards to Homeland Security out of what? A dent in your ego?"

Upstairs, Duke saw Mac talking to Dr. Drake and asked "Why did he think I was Zachara, I thought he was taken down last year."

"He was, and the reason he thought you were Zachara is that a DNA test told him you were the father of Anthony's son John."

"That's impossible, I have no kids." he said in a thick accent as his mind went back to receiving the results of Sam McCall's sample. Part of him had been very relieved to find out that, the other half had been a bit disappointed that his family line would end like this.

"We know that you ran Sam McCall's blood, that you were involved with Alexis." said Mac.

"Natasha, when I knew her she was called Natasha." he said with a sigh. "We were kids, I am sorry that this Sam is her daughter. After her family life... I knew it was bad... but had no idea she was a Cassadine. This Sam, though, she certainly didn't fall far from the family tree."

"True, she is a lot like her biological father, Anthony." said Patrick nodding at Mac as he handed him a report. "Mr. Paget or Lavery; whatever you are calling yourself, Johnny is Alexis' child."

"So, what that man was saying... he is my son." he said thinking. "It might be better if he doesn't know."

"Too late." said Johnny. He had been restless after talking to Georgie and had wanted to see the man who was possibly his father. "I saw you on Spoon Island the night of the ball."

"Yes, I was trying to find proof that Cassadine was dirty in the secret passages. Ran into two gunmen and was shot in the leg." He said looking at his son. John moved around the room, seeing ill at ease. "With my family legacy, you are better off without publicly acknowledging me, at least if you are going to stay in that world."

Looking at the man, Johnny retorted "I am already out but you are right, I am better off and so is my mother. I did some research, I know why you ran."

"Anna, deserved a life where she wasn't on the run, so did her daughter." Duke had a wistful grin as his mind went back to the woman he still loved after all these years. "I will always be on the run."

Jason was down at the station, pissed off to be arrested by two FBI agents and their reasoning made even less sense. When Mac entered and saw the cuffs, he asked "Will someone tell me why Morgan is down here?"

"My boss ordered me to pick him up in regards to the Zachara case." said the nervous lead agent.

"If your boss is Agent Raynor, he was just hauled out of a hospital room by your version of Internal Affairs." snapped Mac who then said with a roll of his eyes, "I need to talk to you anyhow, Morgan."

Seeing Luke walking in, he said to the man and Morgan, "We need to talk.

Uncuffing him, Mac took him to his office and said "Early last night, Lucky was transferred over from Attica to Pentonville. There he was placed in the same cell block as Sonny. I got a call an hour ago, they had an altercation and Sonny shanked Lucky who pulled it out of his own wound and stuck it into Sonny."

"Can I visit my son?" asked Luke quietly.

"Luke, Sonny and he are both dead." was Mac's response. Jason kept his face still, his men had been under orders to take care of Sonny and to make it look like someone else had done it. That they had done so and managed to take out Lucky at the same time, meant they were due a big bonus.

"I have to find Lulu, then call Laura." said the older man as he left the office then asked Jason. "Will you be letting Carly know, wait, of course you will."

Mac looked at the man and said "Morgan, Michael knows, the rumor mill already filtered down to the cells."

"Would you let Carly know, I will inform Alexis." he said then turned at the footsteps.

"No, I am the one who should tell them." said Dante before asked "Morgan, do you know what his burial plans were?"

Going home, Mac stopped in to see Bobbie and saw the red head had been given the news. Seeing Annie there supporting her friend, he asked about it. "Lucky was an ass but Bobbie, well she has been through a lot over the years."

Dante stopped in to see Alexis, who after turning white said "I am not surprised, I will let Kristina know, then give Ric a call. They were brothers after all. Are you going to tell Mike?"

Carly on the other hand screamed and shouted, bouncing between blaming Lucky for killing him and Johnny for his being sent to jail. When she stormed off, Dante turned to Jax who had come down to take her back to Alaska and said "Morgan and his family were leaving on a quick trip."

"To get away from this." he said knowingly as he drove to the address that Bernie had given Carly the day before. Seeing his wife banging on the door, screaming for Jason, he said "He isn't here."

"Oh course he is here, Jason is always there for me. He knows we are going to need him more during a tragedy like this." she said ignoring him. When no one answered, she growled. "Where is he?"

"Elizabeth and he are out of town." Seeing her pulling out her cell, he thought about the call from Bernie and said "Carly, they changed their numbers, and I don't think they will be coming back until after Sonny is buried."

Falling down, she said in a monotone. "He did it, he deserted me for her. I never thought it would happen. What do I do know, you don't like Sonny, you don't understand why I am mourning for him."

"Well I would hope it was for the sake of Morgan and Michael." he sniped.

Standing, Carly said. "Oh, my god, Michael, I am going to be the one to tell Michael, how do I do that, how do I tell him that his father is gone. This should be Jason's job, I can't do this... I mean, I-I don't do this sort of stuff well. Morgan, Morgan will be easier, he is closer to you than to Sonny and that is a good thing, but Michael, I can't face him about the rape, how do I tell him. Dammit, why Jason, why did you have to get your act together now."

Dante had given Mike the news and was well aware that his grandfather was going to be crawling into a bottle that evening but he had bigger issues, like telling his Aunt and his mother the news. Kate just swayed then said "I am not surprised."

His mother sat down and cried then said "I feel a relief but how do I tell this baby, I was sure that I could ask Johnny to be a father to it, but he said no."

"We do it as a family." replied Kate as she hugged her cousin. Calling Coleman later that evening, she found herself finally at peace with the past few years. Sonny was history, the way he always should have been.

Jason and the boys were on the train to New York City. He had suggested it as a way to shop for the new house after reading about Chuggin Charlie having a train show at the Gardens. They would be gone for at least a week and hopefully in that time all would settle down.

Calling Diane, Jason verified that he still had control of Sonny's numbered accounts then called Roy. "Take care of them, everything like usual. And Roy, give them my thanks for the extra bonus."

Checking on his sleeping family, Jason looked out the window and gave thanks to whoever was listening as he had been for days.

Over the next few days, things went quickly. Duke and Anna were reunited after Patrick Drake had removed the bullet pieces. The Scot had sat down with Alexis who had been shocked to learn who he had been. He had explained that with what he had done in the past, it wasn't possible for him to stay around but that he would keep an eye on their son.

Lisa had gotten a rude shock. Within 24 hours of trying to seduce Patrick, the brain surgeon had been brutally honest, telling her that yes, he did look back at his past with fond memories but that he looked to his future with Robin, anticipating all that would be coming their way.

After that, Anna had 'politely' suggested she move elsewhere, with Claire leaving for Albany, Lisa had taken an offer from Boston to work at their hospital in the Back Bay area. She had regretfully said goodbye to Patrick who had waved her off as he had an incoming patient.

Sonny had been buried, with his family at the church graveyard. Mike blaming Jason for not getting his former boss out of jail, until Luke had walked over and spit on the Cuban's grave. He had had the courtesy of waiting until the children had left at least, but Luke Spencer had looked at Mike and suggested he take a look in the mirror making comments about the sins of the father falling onto the son.

Dante had let the drunk man rant, then leave before escorting his mother out of the graveyard. She had decided that staying in town, would be impossible as the press was now aware she was having the late mobster's baby. Deciding to lead up Jax's Sydney office, she had almost cried when Carly had been kind on learning about her child.

The two other women with Sonny's children had had different responses to his death. Alexis had allowed Kristina to grieve in her own manner, while Carly had wavered between angry and sorrowful. The only good thing had been she had relied on Jax who in spite of loathing Sonny had been there for his wife.

When Carly had seen Brenda in the church, she had wanted to put a stop to her attending but had come to realize she didn't want to create a scene with Morgan there. Michael had been allowed to attend, to the shock of many but Mac had thought seeing what had become of his father might wake the angry and arrogant teen up.

Instead he had stood up in front of the church and railed at Jason's betrayal, until Robin Scorpio who had attended, slapped him across the face. The blond had stopped and started to rail at the small doctor but his mother had stood and said "ENOUGH, MICHAEL, YOUR FATHER'S DEATH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR UNCLE."

Glaring at them all, he had been lead from the church by Harper and two uniformed officers. Dante had stood to speak then realized there was really nothing he wanted to say. At the house, there was an angry tenseness to the air, Mike still drinking and Carly looking around and not wanting to be there with these women, these women who were proof that Sonny hadn't been hers like she had once wanted.

As the wake attendees left, Dante had asked Brenda for a moment of her time. After informing her about what her sister had done, he was not really surprised when all she did was shrug and say "That was in the past. Julia has come to understand that more than Sonny was at fault. That I made mistakes as well."

"Do you have any idea of the damage that she caused with Sam McCall?" he asked.

"Please, Jason is a big boy, he can take care of himself."

Walking back to Jax as they were leaving, Carly wanted to smirk, Brenda was on her own, no man in sight. Jax was going home with her and they were catching a flight to Alaska and then on to Australia as soon as Sonny's will was read.

The Spencers were burying Lucky on the same day. Laura had looked around, then was a bit disappointed to see that Elizabeth hadn't come. No matter what, she should have `come to support her family like they had always supported her.

As they were back at the brownstone, Laura quietly asked Luke where Elizabeth was only for his jaw to drop. "She is with her husband, would be my guess."

"She should have been there, no matter what was going on in their lives, Lucky was there for her." Luke looked at her and said "Laura, he was there because he was obsessed, I hope that Elizabeth is far away, living her life with her boys and their father."

When Anna and Duke had left town together, Georgie had tried to distract Johnny worried he would be in pain. Instead he has assured her that while he would always wonder what if... he was fine with the way things hand turned out.

They had dealt with a few bumps to getting to go on that first planned day together, she had been required to attend a meeting with the FBI in regards to anything she had possibly known about Nicolas, so he had arranged for them to spend it in Syracuse.

After a day of visiting the animals at the zoo, ceramics at the museum then dinner followed by a movie, Georgie was more than a bit tired as they started to drive home only to be pushed back by the rain.

Arranging for a room, they were soon safely inside and watching the rain hitting the windows in their Sunroom suite at the hotel. Calling her father, Georgie listened as he let her know what was going on, she was smiling when she hung up.

"Okay, what is up with that grin?" he asked as he handed her the glass of warm milk.

"Kevin had everything clear out of the lighthouse and Dad offered me his old furniture, that means all I need is a bed and to get a living room set."

"Well you really don't need a bed, you know mine is available." he teased.

"Oh, thank you." she said with a straight face. "But I take you up on your offer, where are you going to sleep."

As they settled into the settee, Johnny was listening to the rain when he realized she had fallen asleep. Carrying her to bed, he was about to crawl in next to her when his phone rang. "What is going on?"

"Nothing, I just came back from escorting Luke to the airport. I overheard Lulu and Maxie doing some plotting, I just wanted to see if you were about to fall into their trap." he replied.

"We are still in Syracuse." Johnny replied. "What about that other item?"

"Morgan took care of it, from what I gather he had to come back for the will reading, they tried to put it off as long as possible, but some woman in town for the reading pushed matters until Diane agreed to read it today."

"What happened." he asked as he sat down.

Ethan took out the papers that Jason had given him. "It was a mess, Corinthos never updated his will from when he married Kate."

"Uh oh, I bet that didn't go over well."

At the Brownstone, Bobbie was dealing with an angry Carly who had been furious to find out that Sonny was bankrupt and had had very little money even in his numbered account. "Momma, all he had were the trusts for the kids. Morgan is fine, but he had accessed Michael, my little boy has nothing left, his father stole it all."

"What about Dante and Kristina?" asked Bobbie only for Carly to brush any concern away from the cop and say "Kristina has one, Jason replaced the money in it but refused to do the same for Mikey."

She had been shocked to find out that Sonny had given the house to Kate who had decided to put it up for sale after auctioning off the contents for Olivia's baby and Dante. Carly was steaming, as far as she was concerned, that should have been split between all the kids.

She had been shocked to learn that all of Sonny's legitimate businesses and annuities as well as his stocks and bonds had been confiscated by the government and sold. She had some hope in that AJ's ELQ stock was now back in the hands of the Quartermaines, she expected that Edward would put it in trust for Michael, after all he had been AJ's son.

When she finished ranting, she let her Mother know that Jax and she were returning to Australia with the kids but that she would come home for Micheal's trial. Seeing Lulu entering as she was on her way out, she asked "What happened to you?"

The girl with the soaking wet hair, stopped and said "Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened."

In truth, she had been planning on attempting to seduce Johnny only to find the door locks changed after she had had to leave before he returned. Damn Lucky for calling her that night from Pentonville the night before he died. When she had broken down, her phone wouldn't work and she had been drenched walking to get help.

Maxie had been pissed to be told that Johnny hadn't returned and had hung up on her when she called saying she had to track down her sister. When she had arrived at Spinelli's room at Kelly's, she had been shocked to find out he was at Shadybrook.

Storming home, she had gotten a lecture from her father and when he suggested she lose the attitude, that he had to go to work she waited until he was gone and tossed her room. Going over things in her head, she was pissed to realize she had no one left to help her save Georgie from herself, no Spinelli, no Sam, no Lucky. She was on her own.

Jason hung up and went back to the small sunroom on the back of the house where his sons and wife were watching the growing storm. Soon seated with Elizabeth while Jake and Cam were putting together a puzzle, he was watching the boys when he saw them looking at him and giggling. "Hey, what is going on?"

"Mommy said we had to go to bed early this night, that she has a surprise for you daddy." replied Jake while putting away the toys. "Mommy when do we get our surprise? And why can't we share in daddy's?"

Kissing him on his nose, Elizabeth said "I have something for the two of you in the morning for being so good, now kiss your daddy goodnight. Jason, stay right where you are, I will be back in a half hour."

"I could bathe the boys." he said only to be glared at by all three of them. Hearing the splashes and sounds of the boys going to bed, he was standing at the window looking out when he heard her return.

"Would you do something for me?" she asked as he turned.

"Anything you want." he said then was told to close his eyes and hold out his hand. Feeling the papers, he said "Elizabeth, what is this?"

"Open them." she said as he read the words, what they meant started to sink in. "Really?"

"Yes." she said blushing slightly.

"When?" he asked as he encircled her waist and kissed the still flat stomach."

"May." she giggled. "On Jake's birthday."

Laughing, he said "August, our wedding night, we made a baby." Seeing the expression in his eyes, she said "Yes we did and you get to be here for every single moment this time."

"I love you and this baby." he said standing as he lifted her into his arms. "Wow, does this mean we are going to have that little girl?"

"It is a little early to know that." she warned then said "But I hope so.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Epilogue

It was Christmas time and snow was falling softly as Elizabeth decorated the tree by herself. The boys were off with Annie so they could buy their parents some Christmas presents. Hearing footsteps, she saw Jason and scolded him even as she took the cup of hot cocoa. "Your feet are going to get cold. Where are your shoes?"

Embracing his wife who was now showing enough for him to see the bump, he said "I kicked them off, as soon as we are finished here, I have plans for you."

"Really, what kind of plans." she asked as she took out the angel and asked him to place it.

"These kind." he said as he pulled her into a kiss. "And these kinds."

Shrieking with laughter as he picked her up and carried her up the back staircase to their bedroom, he soon had her naked in their bed. "Now, I intend to have my way with you, Mrs. Morgan."

"What if I have different plans?" she asked seductively stretching her arms above her head. "What if I want to have my way with you?"

Pulling her into his lap, Jason tugged her head down and kissed her passionately saying. "I am all yours."

Later that morning, Jason took the call and looked over to where Elizabeth was wrapping presents and he knew that his plans for the afternoon would be getting him in some serious trouble with his wife if he didn't tell her soon.

Idly wondering how Mac would feel if he kidnapped the man's daughter so he could propose, Johnny entered the garage. "Morgan, what is going on?"

Seeing the two small bikes, he said "Oh no. I am not helping you with that."

The older man just handed him a screwdriver and said "This was your idea, you get to help. Elizabeth isn't too happy about my plans for the big present for them." They had made a deal, he would chose one really big present and she would take care of the rest of the gifts for the boys. She was a bit worried they were spoiling them.

"I thought you said, she liked your bike?" he asked as he sat down and started to put together the small toy bike.

"She does, she has ALWAYS wanted to have one, she is just too small to drive even my new one." he said. "But that isn't the problem, she is worried they are too much of a gift."

Putting together the bikes, Johnny got Jason up-to-date on the previous day. "Did Diane tell you how it went?"

"No, I didn't care but should I be worried?" asked Jason his head coming up from where he was attaching the handle bars.

"No, it was more of the same crap from Spinelli. You want to hear the sick part, he didn't even ask if his child was a boy or a girl." said the man. "He just went on and on about how you were being kept away and how Sam would never harm her child."

"She deliberately cut herself on a barb wire fence." said Jason in disbelief, "What more proof does he need?"

"The entire service went like that, his moaning that you were being kept away by Elizabeth. At least I am sure Molly is over that nonsense, she rolled her eyes at him. I was a bit worried when she wanted to bury the baby, but after listening to her reasoning, even Alexis admitted that it was for the right reasons. Though she was all for not taking care of Sam."

"I heard that Maxie and Lulu tried to use that to drive a wedge between Georgie and you." said Jason thinking on what Elizabeth had heard from Robin.

"It won't work, they are getting rather tiresome. One minute it is my life they are interfering in, then next it is Dante's." sighed Johnny as he finished up the bike. "I have to go and meet Georgie, she was planning on doing a little studying."

"Thanks for your help." said Jason as he picked up the two bikes and placed them in the back of his SUV.

Meanwhile Jason snuck home and hid the bikes in attic over the garage hoping to remain unnoticed as he still had to arrange for his surprise for Elizabeth, he looked at his watch a bit worried, the boys were supposed to have come home an hour ago and he didn't want to be caught by them.

Unfortunately, he was seen but the twosome stayed hidden behind the garbage cans. "Do you think Daddy saw us?"

"No." said Cam quickly "But if Daddy and Mommy got us the bikes, what is there left for Santa to bring us?"

The little blond looked at his brother then said in horror "Do you think that Santa will get mad at us for asking for the bikes since we are already getting them, and not bring us presents? Or maybe not bring Mommy and Daddy presents?"

Cam sat down thinking then said "Okay, this is what we do. You go distract Mommy, I will... I don't know... wait, I will take them out to the shed, no one will look there. So Santa won't get mad?"

"How do I do that?" asked the little boy.

"Go make a mess..." said the wise older brother as he slipped up the stairs while his brother went towards to door. "Wait! Jake, they are going to be heavy so take your time, since I haves to carry them out each by themselves."

Elizabeth on the other side of the door debated on what to do. Let the twosome think they had been sneaky or let them know that their dad had realized they were there. The fact that he hadn't done so until he was coming down the stairs was going to give her mileage to tease her husband for a long time.

Returning to the kitchen, she called Jason and said "The shed, later. We can talk to them afterwords, maybe convince them that Santa knew before hand."

As Diane thanked Edward for her Christmas bonus, she was once again grateful that she now only dealt with Jason and Elizabeth's private legal business besides her now very busy and complicated job for Edward. The man had literally turned updating a legal department that hadn't been changed since Lee Baldwin had been running thing over to her.

She was finding it very busy and fulfilling work without the need to visit the police station every single day. Answering her phone, she grimaced at Alexis' request for a late lunch. Things were still tense between the two in spite of the time passing. Adding to the fact that she had been dealing with Spinelli as a result of Sam McCall's death and Diane was once again reminded of what had broken their friendship.

In her office, Diane was closing her briefcase when she saw the file and shook her head at the kid's stupidity as she remembered the task she had attended to at Mac's request.

"_Did you let my master know, he has to know the goddess is going to need him. She can't be allowed to grieve alone." Spinelli had stood and walked over to the window, wondering how much more the that the love between Sam and Jason could take before it was ruined forever._

"_Sam had been told of the danger if she were to try to leave again, but she ignored the warnings. Spinelli, Sam didn't make it either. The judge and Mac are going to arrange for you to attend the funeral services for them, if you would like to." Mac felt like the man deserved to attend his own child's funeral service._

_As they left with Spinelli cuffed and shackled, he was surprised when they pulled into the local cemetery. "Why are we here. She should have been buried next to her late daughter at St Agnes?"_

_Diane explained that the Corinthos family wouldn't allow it, Spinelli interrupted to say that Stone Cold would never allow her to be buried out here at the edge of the county. When Spinelli saw Johnny Zachara he frowned then shouted "Be gone you enemy of my master."_

"_Zip it." he snapped. "Father, you may begin."_

_Spinelli kept looking around, wondering where Jason was and why Johnny was here until the geek could no longer hold it in. "You are keeping my master from attending his beloved's last moments on this earth, you must leave."_

_Johnny moved in closer and said "Listen you little freak, Jason could care less that Sam is dead. I am here for Molly who felt bad that no one would take care of Sam, she is lucky she didn't end up ash in urn and forgotten so for once in your rather ignorant and obnoxious life, shut the hell up unless you chose to discuss mourning your own daughter."_

_Spinelli looked at the guards as they slowly lowered the two coffins in next to one another. Seeing Diane with Alexis and Molly, he looked around, wondering where Kristina was now that he knew Stone Cold was being kept from mourning his beloved Samantha. _

_Mac approached then ordered Spinelli brought back to Shadybrook after realizing to his disgust that Spinelli hadn't even approached his child's coffin. Wishing he hadn't felt the need to let the geek attend, the police officer watched as the van took him back to Shadybrook thinking about all the chances that kid had once had._

Diane's mind returned to what she was doing and placed a quick call then went to see what Kate Howard wanted before joining Alexis.

Georgie was sitting in Kelly's with her textbooks out when she saw her sister enter. They tersely nodded at one another before Maxie joined a woman at the counter. "That looked tense." said Ethan as he sat down with her.

"Well, did you find out yet?"

"Robin is meeting me here with the results." he said. "I still can't believe it. I knew it was a possibility but with the rest of the mess, it got pushed away."

"Well, apparently you are." said the doctor behind him. Seeing his face, she said "We share alleles, a fifty percent match. You are my brother."

Stunned, he asked "I just can't help wondering if my mother knew..."

"I don't know, I should tell you, I sent the results to several different labs, they all came back the same." she said then sitting down asked "What are you going to do know, about Luke I mean?"

"I talked to him, earlier. He asked that no matter what the results say, I stay on the Haunted Star, just like the last time we had this conversation. As for the rest, it is going to take some time to get used to this."

Hugging him, Robin whispered. "Welcome to the family, as crazy as it is. One thing, I have to go tell Uncle Mac, now."

With a laugh that ended up a snort, Ethan said "Oh my god, my uncle is the police commissioner, I guess that means, no more hiding the truth."

Georgie just laughed. Johnny and he had kept the truth about themselves quiet, mainly at the request of the families and to keep Anthony out of the loop. The old man had done a complete nutter around Halloween, ending up drugged and in a coma so that threat was now gone.

"You know, I am going to miss the looks I have been getting as a result of dating Johnny." she said ruefully as the man in question entered.

"I hope that doesn't mean I am about to be dumped." he said after a quick kiss while he listened to what Ethan had to say about his new found family. Georgie just squeezed his hand knowing that he still felt bad about his own family.

Molly while she had accepted Sam wasn't related, had refused for the longest time to believe that Johnny was her brother. She still hadn't forgiven him for the confrontation at GH. "You dad wants to know if we are coming for dinner on Christmas? He needs you to call him."

"Why didn't he just ask you?" she said with a smirk. "According to him we are practically living together anyhow." They spent most nights together at the lighthouse, rarely going to the penthouse now that the danger was gone. It was a rare night that they weren't in the same bed to her sister and Lulu's chagrin.

Johnny was feeling a bit frustrated, he had been blocked now several times from asking Georgie a very important question. First Robin had convinced Georgie to baby sit Emma and the two year old had wrecked havoc on the lighthouse. Then Elizabeth had tried to help him and her sons had been the ones who had interfered. At least that time had been an accident, at least he thought so...

Idly wondering again how Mac would feel if he kidnapped the man's daughter so he could propose, Johnny answered the phone and laughed at Elizabeth's suggestion and carefully answered. "I can take care of that."

Listening to what she was explaining he wrote it down then said "Uh, Elizabeth, what is that for?"

Hearing her answer, he looked at Georgie and Ethan who was sitting there reading one of Georgie's textbooks and said "I have some help already in mind."

Hanging up, he explained to his girlfriend and pal "I am off to help do something for Elizabeth; meet me later?" he asked while plotting on where to find quick help that wouldn't interfere with his plan.

Knocking on the Lake House door, he was shivering by the time he was let in.

"Why did you knock?" asked an annoyed Kristina. "I mean, you are family."

"You know why, it's not polite." he pointed out only for her to say "Well we have our hands full, Mom is trying to make bird seed bells for Molly."

Following her to the kitchen, he laughed when he saw the glue and seeds were stuck to the woman who was his biological mother and his littlest sister. Looking at Kristina he asked "Why aren't you covered."

"I am too old to be doing bird feeders as presents." she said then after taking the presents he had dropped off, told her to help wrap up warmly, he needed her help for about a half hour.

Calling out to her mother who was now showering for her lunch with Diane, Kristina entered the kitchen in time to here Molly refuse to help saying she had promised to spend some time with Morgan before the party.

Carly sat in the visiting room, waiting for her eldest son. They hadn't talked since he was convicted of attempted rape and then conspiracy to intimidate a witness after trying to hire two men to threaten Georgie. The two goons who had been paid with his watch had been rather shocked when they broke into Georgie's house and met the business end of Johnny Zachara's gun.

Their testimony had sunk any chance of her son not going to jail, thanks to Georgie it was a jail where he got treatment and would be sent to a work farm until he was twenty-five but that was better than prison. "Why are you here?"

"It's Christmas." she said quietly. "They uh, wouldn't let you have the cookies I brought, but I did get some books for you and arranged for some money to be put on your account. How are you?"

Looking resentfully at the woman who had given birth to him, he said "I told you last time you were here, I didn't want you to return. I told you that I never wanted to see you again, what part of that don't you get?"

Carly felt the sharp pain in her heart but knew she couldn't just walk away from her little boy. "Michael, I am your mother, I am never going to walk away."

"Oh, please, the way I see it, my life would have been much better if after you ran when I was born, you kept going." he sneered. He had been spending time in therapy and had been researching his family. His anger at his Uncle Jason was gone, he had finally come to realize that his uncle had given up so much for him. Now all his anger was at the woman who wouldn't leave him alone, and the dead man who had seen him as another trophy to wave in front of the Quartermaine's saying he had won and they had lost.

He had written four letters as Christmas presents. One to his uncle, saying he was sorry for the past, and that he appreciated everything he had done for him. That he thanked him for loving him enough to make him grow up and face this on his own. The second had been to his wife, letting Elizabeth know that he was sorry his own family had taken so much away from her.

The third had been to Jax, in it he had asked the man to not share what he had written with his mother and the last had been to Georgie Jones. That had been the hardest to write, his therapist had looked at it and suggested he send it. Instead Michael had had the sense to realize he was the last person she would want to hear from. He had burnt the letter in the shrink's office, feeling like he had reached a milestone.

Now looking at his mother he said "Please, give me the respect to live my own life. Things aren't bad here, and honestly all you are doing by visiting is causing me pain. Go home, take better care of Morgan and Joss than you did of me. Be happy with Jax, because honestly I think he is the only man on this earth that will ever love you like you need."

With that Michael stood and called for the guard to take him back to his room where he would celebrate Christmas by reading the book he found in the library about parenthood and compare it to the sad and pathetic way he had been raised.

Elizabeth grinned as Jason returned to help get the boys ready for this evening. "What is that smile about?"

"Let's just say, that I am doing my good deed for the day. I was thinking about something after a rather lovely visit from Lulu in where she insisted that I owed it to Spencer to invite him here for the holidays, her reasoning being that he was almost my stepson."

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "Where did this come from and why now?"

"Relax, it was all a plan, she tried to snap a few pictures of Jake and Cam, but Cam caught on, it will be worth replacing her cell phone after Cam dropped it in the toilet bowl." she said her mind going back to the debacle her afternoon could have been. "Anyhow, I was doing some plotting on my own for us when I came up with a wonderful idea for someone else."

"Do I want to know?" he asked cautiously.

"Maybe not." she said kissing him and asked "So what are your plans for later, I was thinking we meet up on the bridge and have a make out session."

Jason felt his body grow hard at even the idea but said regretfully. "Do you remember what almost happened the night I gave you that ring?"

His hand lifted hers and kissed the Irish ring she was now wearing on a chain. "Do you remember us almost creating our baby on a tree swing in the middle of the back yard?"

Elizabeth thought back to the day they looked at the house and Jason showing her the back yard then settling her into the wooden slatted chair swing. _"Elizabeth, uh, I am always messing this up, but this time... I want to do it perfectly, so close your eyes, okay?"_

_Following his orders, she closed them then felt Jason reach out for her hand, then his sudden cough then nothing but some movement. "Jason?"_

"_Wait, please?" he asked his heart beating fast. Then finding the ring in his pocket he asked her to open them. Her eyes watered as she saw he was kneeling in front of her and the ring in his hands. When she heard the words, she blinked not capable of saying anything but when she saw the way he tensed up and how he was shutting down, she said weakly "Yes, yes I will marry you."_

Her mind back in the present, Elizabeth kissed him firmly and quickly before saying. "I love you, Jason Morgan, don't you ever forget that."

"I love you too, Elizabeth." he said hoarsely as he pulled her into his arms. The silence around them was shattered minutes later when Jake and Cam thundered down the stair case to ask "Is it time to go to GH yet?"

As the family's gathered at the hospital, Kristina had met up with Mrs. Hardy who was holding a bag out to her. "Why?"

"That is the way it works, sorry." said older woman not the least bit sorry. "This tradition has gone on since before my granddaughter was born."

Greeting her mother after changing, Kristina saw Georgie and Johnny standing together and waving the hat said. "DO SOMETHING!"

"About what?" asked Johnny as he hid his grin that went away when he saw the expression on Ethan's face. When the man walked over to flirt with one of the interns, he kissed his girlfriend and said "Can you help Krissy, I need to take care of something."

While the two females commiserated, Ethan saw Johnny approaching and said "I know."

"I should slug you, what the hell is going on in your head, she is seventeen?"

"Look, its not like I have done anything about it, it's why I am planning on leaving town for a while." said the Aussie as he walked down the hall. "You think I WANT to be attracted to her?"

"What happened with Brooklynn?" snapped Johnny tersely.

"When it was so easy to let her go after finding out about her feelings for Dante, I knew that was in my head. Crap, I so wish to god it wasn't." said the man as he leaned against the wall.

Johnny didn't know what to say. He was eight years older than Georgie, so he couldn't use the age gap since it was less and after all Kristina had been through, she was certainly more mature in some ways then most girls her age. "Does she know?"

"About my feelings, no." he said. "That I am leaving, yes."

When the Morgan family arrived, Jason greeted his mother while Elizabeth hugged her grams and the boys ran around the room calling out Merry Christmas to everyone they knew before hugging Epiphany.

"You saw me yesterday when you came with your mama to visit her doctor." she reminded them with a grin as they smiled and ran over to Georgie and Kristina who were still comparing notes about the costumes.

Hearing Morgan, Jason saw the little boy looking around searching for someone or something while Jax was holding his daughter. Not seeing Carly, he approached the business man and and asked "How are things?"

"Better." replied the tall blond as he kept an eye on Morgan. "She is going to take tomorrow hard, but I think things are getting better. We are, uh, we are moving to Sydney. Bobbie is coming as well. With Olivia there, she has companionship, without all the memories from here. Brand new start."

The story of the first Christmas was read, then Luke Spencer showed up dressed as Santa Claus to the amusement of some and the consternation of others but it was the night before Christmas and the man was refusing to let all that had he had lost that past year get to him as he passed out presents and greeted some adults.

Watching as the party broke up and families went home with their loved ones, the silver-haired man in the red suit found himself restless as the words to a story he had once read to Bobbie when they were little flowed through his head.

**_Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse..._**

Watching the gifted computer geek sitting in a room pretending to type on an imaginary lap top as he talked to an invisible Stone Cold, Luke couldn't help thinking that Port Charles might have been a much better place if this young man hadn't come to town.

Handing out presents to the rest of the inmates at Shadybrook in honor of the time that Laura had once spent there, he was dismayed when Spinelli looked at him and saw St. Nick instead of Luke Spencer. Wondering how much longer the kid had to live, he sadly gave him the coloring book and crayons he had left over from General Hospital and said god speed as he left.

**_The stockings were hung by the chimney with care; In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads..._**

Luke watched as Cam and Jake kissed their mother and held their father's hands as they went up the stairs he assumed to bed. Watching as Elizabeth ate the cookies and drank the milk they had carefully placed out, he imagined their Christmas morning with both of their biological parents for the first time and felt the smile grow when he saw Jason returning down the stairs and kissing Elizabeth.

Seeing them grabbing jackets, he ducked behind the trees as the next part of the poem came_..._**_And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,..._**

"Elizabeth, I can get the bikes." he heard only for the petite woman to push him onto the porch swing right next to the house and say "I have some news."

Luke watched as she held out a small square piece of paper and said "It's a girl."

The wonder in Morgan's eyes then the tears, made Luke's heart turn, he had never been that happy about becoming a parent and to see someone else excited, made him wonder if he was broken in some way.

"Yes, we are having a daughter." she said as she brought his hands under her pea coat and held them to her stomach. Kissing the top of his head when he pulled her close and listened to her heart beat, Elizabeth gave a quick grin when she felt the length of his hair. He had been growing it and had kept it at the length from his trial since learning how much she had liked it.

"I thought we weren't going to ask?" he questioned looking at her.

"Jake and Cam were there when we came out, the file dropped and Cam saw the words girl, he wasn't as happy about it as we are." she said ruefully.

"Our little girl." he said standing then picking her up said "I will get the bikes, you get the inside stuff, then I have some plans for you."

Luke watched for a while longer then walked away as Jason handed Elizabeth her present from him. Not getting the significance of a blue vase, he just wished them well as he went to see what others were doing.

**_When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash..._**

Luke observed as his sister and niece were talking in the barren brownstone. Bobbie was going to Australia with Carly the day after Christmas and it looked like they were making one last check. "Momma, anything else?"

"NO, Mac is going to take care of the sale for me and I only have one more thing to do." she said going to the fireplace. Removing the picture of BJ, she said "I am ready."

Hugging the still red head, Carly felt guilty at what she had asked her but knew that her mother was more than ready to move on from all the pain and disappointment they had had over the years. "Momma, am I doing the right thing, with Michael I mean?"

"Carly, it's what he wants. Keep checking, maybe at some point he will change his mind, but for now, concentrate on the family you do have."

The blond took one last drive around town, while Bobbie went to say goodbye to Monica. Seeing Jake's, Carly felt sick as she came to accept that she was cutting ties with Jason and her friendship. Driving past Kelly's, she saw the new owners were already making changes and walked to where the steps led to her old night club.

As she sat on the stone steps, she saw Luke and said "A walk down memory lane?"

"It looks like you are taking one." he said quietly as she said "You know, my life went off script here. I saw Jason dancing with Elizabeth, in that window over there... I knew then, I managed to hold back the tides for years, by burying my head, by allowing myself to be used by Courtney and Sonny... if I had just turned and went back to the Quartermaines, stayed with AJ... things for my family might have been so different."

"And if I hadn't placed you up for adoption... there are lots of what ifs, Carly. All we can do is move on in the here and now."

Carly visited a few more places then went to the hotel and kissed her husband saying. "I love you, I know I haven't always showed it, but I do."

Luke kept moving,**_The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below..._**

At GH, he watched as Annie Logan and Steven Webber were helping a patient then as Epiphany Johnson lit a candle for her lost son and then left the chapel with the janitor. He would swear he saw the ghosts of Tony Jones and Alan Quartermaine talking to Steve Hardy when he entered the emergency room.

**_When, what to my wondering eyes should appear_**

**_But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,_**

**_With a little old driver, so lively and quick,_**

**_I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick._**

**_More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,_**

**_And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name;_**

'**_Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!_**

**_On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen!_**

**_To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!_**

**_Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!'_**

**_As the leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,_**

**_When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;_**

**_So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,_**

**_With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too._**

**_And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof_**

**_The prancing and pawing of each little hoof..._**

Luke was walking down Charles Street when he saw his daughter peering into a window then take out her cell phone. As he got what she was planning on doing, he took the phone away and said sadly. "Haven't you learned anything from your brother's mistakes? Lulu, you can't force people to love you. That young man, he isn't the right one for you."

Looking in, he saw Dante kissing Brooklynn and turning to talk to her grandparents from Bensonhurst and couldn't help thinking that Sonny wouldn't be happy about this. His son was a cop, a good man and from the looks of things he was happily in love with Lois Ashton's daughter with Ned. A Quartermaine by blood.

Telling Lulu to go home, he saw the other blond screeching to a halt in front of the house and stopped Maxie from whatever her part in this was, and said "Both of you, get a life. Maxie, BJ died to give you a new chance at life, why don't you use that heart, put it to good use and find someone that will love you for you."

The two left, Lulu was pulling into the Scorpio driveway when her phone ran. Answering it, she listened to what her mother had to say and trying to protest was told that Luke had already called and Lulu was to fly to Paris the day after Christmas for a couple of weeks.

**_As I drew in my head, and was turning around,_**

**_Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound._**

**_He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,_**

**_And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot._**

**_A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,_**

**_And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack._**

**_His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!_**

Luke saw his almost son handing something to Robin then kissing Emma on the check announce he was heading to Europe to track down Robert. The man had not been happy to learn about Anna and Duke, he was some place in France sulking according to Sean Donnally.

"Promise you will stay in touch." she said hugging her brother. "I don't like losing touch with my family, too much of it in the past."

"You will grow sick of the post cards." he promised then told Patrick to take good care of them before driving away. Luke wished him well and hoped that the money he had stuck in his boot would allow the man to travel in style. After all Tracy would never miss it.

**_His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;_**

Edward was telling Lila about their grandson's excitement for the next day. "Oh, my dear, he is so happy... two sons and a little one on the way. With a delightful girl, sweet Elizabeth. Now if would only get rid of that leather jacket."

Monica was on her way to bed after Bobbie had left when she saw Edward talking to the portrait in the living room, once in bed, she took the photo of Alan out of the drawer of her nightstand and kissed it goodnight, before saying Merry Christmas to Emily, AJ, Dawn and him.

Tracy was sadly alone, having said good bye to Luke and not being ready for a new relationship, some part of her still hung up on the roue she had been married to. She had noticed the money missing from her safe earlier and saying Merry Christmas at the window, she never saw him below as he did the same before leaving.

**_The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,_**

**_And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;_**

**_He had a broad face and a little round belly,_**

**_That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly._**

**_He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf_**

Mac was on his way home to finish preparations for the next day with his family and Annie for part of it when he saw Luke Spencer walking the streets. At first planning to pull over and offer him a ride, he saw the man get into his car down the street and felt a sense of peace.

As he was wrapping the last of the presents for his girls, he heard Maxie arrived and stomp to her room ending his feeling of calmness but knowing that there was nothing he could do for the blond until she was ready to admit she was in trouble.

When there was quiet once more, Mac prepared for bed, his mind on Johnny Zachara's visit and his plans for Georgie and the rest of their lives. He hoped things went well, he had had doubts about the former mobster but it was clear he was on the straight and narrow path.

**_And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;_**

When Georgie entered the Lighthouse, a bit disappointed that Johnny had sent her home alone, she stopped as she tossed down her keys. OH MY GOD! Her jaw dropped as the Christmas carol started to play on her Bose radio then the tree came on by itself and the box in front of her started to open.

As the box seemed to collapse on itself, roses fell out. Then the second large box did the same, followed by several more all containing roses until there was one left. Walking over, she picked it up and sat down on the sofa.

Inside was a music box that when she opened it played Silent Night. Georgie saw the ring and with shaking hands lifted it. "Oh my god."

"I think I would prefer yes."

Turning she saw his face and said "Oh, yes, yes YES!" Johnny removed the ring from her hands and placed it on her finger. "I love you."

"I love you to, but oh my god, why didn't you just ask me? Why all this?" she asked kissing him.

"I, do you remember the night I got drunk..." seeing her nodding, he said "I had this grand plan, fueled by whiskey, anger, love and Coleman. Elizabeth pointed out the flaws in it, actually along with Monica and that nurse. Anyhow, she asked me if I knew what was wrong with my plans."

"And I said yes, that I had to deal with your head, but they said a scaled down version might help get back in your good graces but then we talked and I forgot all about it. Today Elizabeth called and since she knew how every time I have tried to ask disaster has struck, suggested I use my old plan."

Georgie found herself curled up in his lap as he explained about bribing Kristina to help him find all the roses they could then how he had talked the mall decorator into letting him use the display box.

Luke watched them, feeling sad for his daughter for what she had thrown away as the two talked through the night making plans for their future...

**_A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,_**

**_Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread._**

**_He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,_**

**_And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,_**

**_And laying his finger aside of his nose,_**

**_And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;_**

**_He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,_**

**_And away they all flew like the down of a thistle._**

**_But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,_**

Alexis heard a soft sound and went to see what was going on. Approaching Santa under her tree, she said "I have a gun and I will shoot you."

"Now, Natasha, is that any way to treat an old friend especially one that knows you don't have a weapon." drawled Luke as he stood. "Here, I was leaving this for you, but this works out much better."

Looking at the note, she said "What is it?"

"Proof, proof that you are the true heir to the Cassadine fortune." he said without a hint of shame. "I have had it for years. There is a bank account in Switzerland, a large one. Take good care of your girls and well your son as well. Not that he needs it."

A bit confused, she sat down and said "I don't get it."

"Your parents, they were married, Helena has known for years. Stavros and Stefan were illegitimate. Mikkos last FU to her. I never interfered because Nik, well, he was Laura's son." he said. "I loathed his existence for years, but the simple fact was he was her child, her blood. Now, it is too late to fix all my mistakes. But I wanted to fix this one. Merry Christmas, your highness."

'**_Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night_**

It was a Saturday in June as they gathered to enter the church. Maxie pouted a little as she slipped in the side door well aware that she wasn't an invited guest at this wedding. Seeing Lulu, they sat together, both regretting what they had lost.

Maxie who had seen the light after trying to seduce her brother-in-law and losing her sister, had tried to get some help. She was working on her issues slowly but it was too late at least with Georgie. Lulu had lost Johnny, then Dante and finally she had begun dating Matt Hunter only to lose him when he took a transfer out of town.

She had tried to get Johnny's attention through a series of ever more dangerous stunts, instead she had ended up in the hospital, almost dying still without the attentions of any man except her brother's ex partner, David Harper.

They both glared when Elizabeth and Jason entered. Jason carrying his daughter while Elizabeth was trying to keep Jake and Cameron clean since they were in the wedding. Maxie was not happy to see the former enforcer glare at her, like he had any room to judge her... she sneered right back at him.

Elizabeth placed her hand on Jason's arm and asked "Are you going to be okay with Emily?"

"Go, before Cam finds Georgie." he said with a grin. The little boy had panicked at the news he was to walk with Molly who was the flower girl. They did not get along for reasons that had nothing to with the adults past and everything to do with Molly's very bossy habits.

Jake had gone to find Johnny who was talking to Ethan and some man the boy didn't know. "Hi, Johnny, do you know where Georgie is?"

"Nope." he said glaring at the two men. "Why don't we see if we can find her."

"Sorry, Jake, but he can't see her until the wedding." said Ethan as he picked up for the four years old, "How about I help you."

"Okey-dokey." he said with wave at the two remaining behind. Johnny looked at Georgie's cousin Lucas who asked "Did she really try playing the piano for you?"

Telling him the story, he saw Lucas laugh at the image then soberly ask "Does she still have nightmares about what happened?"

"No, not since they took down Wyndemere." he said then looking at his watch asked "How much longer do we have to wait?"

Lucas saw him mother telling Monica Quartermaine about living down under as he went to find out how much longer this was going to be. "Alexis, what is taking so long?"

"The ceremony isn't until 2, tell Johnny to stop being so impatient." she snapped. "Better yet, I will."

Approaching her son, Alexis stopped and said "You look so handsome."

Blushing a bit, he said "I want to see my bride."

"I know, but you have to wait about fifteen minutes, you two are leaving for three months, I think you can handle being apart for a quarter of an hour." she said then saw Molly approaching. "Uh oh, I think she just found out that Krissy is a bridesmaid."

"Mommy, why does Kristina get to wear the green dress?" she pouted while glaring at her own puffy powder blue dress.

Ethan was talking to Jake when he saw the newly minted high school graduate in the hallway. "Ethan, whys are you so red?"

Jake's voice carried and the young girl turned and smiled, making his heart race then falter as a young boy approached and kissed her on the cheek telling her she was beautiful. "Thanks, Frankie, where is your Mom."

"Talking to Brenda." he said in disgust. "I had no idea she even knew anyone like that."

"Ethan, hi." she said keeping her face steady as the man she had fallen in love with and hurt too badly to ever have a chance with approached. "Do you know Frankie Corelli, his dad worked for my dad."

"Nice to meet you." he said then asked how she was doing. "I am great, I got into Oxford, Mom wasn't too happy but since Georgie and Johnny agreed to stay in London for my first semester, she is handling it better."

"Its a lovely city, I was there with my father recently." he said then seeing his sister went to Robin who was handing Emma off to Patrick. "How much longer."

"Five minutes." she said then went back inside and panicked when she didn't see Georgie, only Brenda and Kate Howard who had insisted on helping with the dress since it was a designer original.

She wanted to hit Brenda when her friend asked Kate how her cousin was doing. Has she forgotten that Olivia had been involved with Johnny? "I don't think you want to know."

Robin now wanted to hit Kate, but the answer made her laugh. "Olivia and Julia, are you serious?"

"Yes, they are talking about a commitment ceremony." she replied. "Jax wasn't happy since he doesn't trust Julia after the past. Did you know she was the one who sent him the letter about Sam, that he was supposedly the father of her child."

Georgie was in the small garden when she heard footsteps. Turning, she saw both her fathers and her mother. Hugging Frisco and Felicia, she said "Thanks for coming."

Speechless as he looked at the little girl he had helped create, Frisco was reminded of her mother when he looked at her. "You look incredible."

"Thank you, are you ready to escort Mom?" she asked trying not to cry and ruin her makeup. Another five minutes with the former model and her father would have to arrest her instead of walking her down the aisle.

"Mac, could you do me a favor?" she asked. "Can you find Elizabeth for me."

"Are you sure you don't want Robin or Brooklynn?" he asked only to be told no. He had no sooner left, then she said dryly. "You can come out now, Dillon."

The blond sheepishly came around the corner and asked "If I asked you to run away with me, would you?"

"No." she said quietly. "Dillon, find happiness, I finally did. Maybe truly try with Lulu, she is sure to be in there, someplace."

Hearing light footsteps, she saw Elizabeth and waited until Dillon had left and asked "Pinch me?"

"No, it's not a dream." she said with a soft smile. "Its real."

Hugging the younger girl, Elizabeth went back to her seat and held Jason's hand while the two bridesmaids entered. Robin first, then Kristina followed by Brooklynn as the Maid of Honor. A spot that she was sure Georgie had once reserved for her sister.

Followed by Jake and Cameron who were followed by Molly as she tossed rose petals. When the wedding march started, most gasped as Georgie was escorted by Mac in a tux while the bride wore an ivory dress that she had had replicated from her mother's gown minus the mantilla Felicia had worn.

Instead she wore the same lace but styled simply. Kate Howard had been shocked when the Spanish designer had called to inform her he was coming to town and even more so when she heard that he was doing so at the request of Edward Quartermaine who still felt bad that AJ's son had tried to hurt her.

When the young couple had been declared husband and wife, most had been amused when the groom had a hard time removing his lips from his new wife's while Felicia felt a sense of loss as her little girl was soon greeted by the attendees.

Looking off to the corner, she as dried her tears, she gasped when she saw Anna and Duke watching from the back then disappear. The newly married couple were soon in the car and on their way to the Lighthouse where they had insisted on having the reception.

Upstairs, changing, Georgie found the box and called out to Johnny. "It's got both of our names on it."

Opening it, they found the delicate stain glass of two hearts as one. Other than markings that indicated it was from Scotland there was no other indication of who it was from. Downstairs, they let Mac and Robin know before going to greet their guests.

As the night grew late, and the guest started leaving, Johnny pulled Ethan, Jason and Dante off and thanked them for knowing to save Georgie a little over a year before. "Without you, who knows what are lives would be like now?"

It was late that night as Elizabeth was putting Emily back in her bassinet, while Jason stood on the doorway and watched... "I never thought we would get here. I always had a dream, but was so afraid that reality would steal you away from me."

Turning, she said "Me either, but we are here. We have three kids to prove it isn't a dream and I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"Not even peace and quiet?" he asked when Emily decided she wasn't happy about the loss of being held. Elizabeth gently rocked the cradle and said "I love every single moment."

The End


End file.
